The City of Pitt Meadows’ Agricultural Viability Strategy identifies farm property tax reform—including updates to income thresholds, changes to the school tax exemption, and targeted land tax on unfarmed land—as a key action for stimulating a productive agricultural land base.
Pitt Meadows City Council attended the 2024 Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention from September 16-20 to meet with various ministries and advocate for the needs of Pitt Meadows.
The City put forward three resolutions calling on the Government of British Columbia to reform the farm property tax system to better support agriculture viability. We are pleased to share that all three resolutions were endorsed by UBCM: NR76 - School Tax Exemption; NR77 - Unfarmed Land Tax; and NR92 - Minimum Income Requirements for Farm Classification. Endorsed resolutions form UBCM policy and inform advocacy priorities for the next year.
The three resolutions included:
- NR76 – School Tax Exemption
- Reforming the School Tax Exemption policy would provide a financial incentive to farm or lease agricultural land, as Farm Classification would be required to receive the school tax exemption.
- NR77 – Unfarmed Land Tax
- The proposed Unfarmed Land Tax would tax land that is within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) that could be farmed, but that is not being farmed due to land speculation. It is intended to encourage farming in the ALR by providing a financial incentive to farm the land or lease it for farming.
- NR92 – Minimum Income Requirements for Farm Classification
- B.C. has one of the lowest income thresholds to achieve Farm Classification in Canada. Raising the threshold will discourage those who are using farmland primarily for lifestyle reasons and are obtaining Farm Classification for solely the tax benefit.
For more information, see the Staff Report supporting these resolutions, which went to Council on February 27, 2024.
Thank you for Endorsing our Resolutions:
- Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM)
- Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA)
- New Westminster & District Labour Council
- BC NDP – Standing Committee on Agriculture and Food Security
- BC Agriculture Council (BCAC)