We’re a week away from local elections in B.C.  There are complaints everywhere about rising residential property taxes, and political challengers pushing for a tax freeze.

The incumbents respond by calling this a long-term challenge: to flatten out the tax curve, cities must work to attract more business and industry, because businesses pay higher property taxes than residents.  In most municipalities, small businesses pay three or four times times as much as residents for each $1,000 in property value; the tax multiplier for major industry goes as high as 14.8 (City of Vancouver) or even 18.4 (Burnaby).  Continue reading →