It would appear the City of Kelowna will not go down the same road as Penticton when it comes to taxing churches and other non-profit organizations. Earlier this week, Penticton announced it would add 24 churches and non-profit groups to the tax rolls. Those groups were previously exempt from municipal taxation.
Municipalities determine on a year-to-year basis which organizations will be tax-exempt. Those decisions must be made prior to October 31. Kelowna's finance department will present its yearly report to council when it meets next October 19. While he won't divulge exactly what is in the report, Financial Services Director Keith Grayston says there are no plans to introduce taxation to churches. "I don't want to get into a discussion about what is or isn't on that at this time because council hasn't seen anything yet, but we're not planning to go back to churches and charge them," says Grayston. Church buildings and the footprint of those buildings are automatically tax exempt. "We don't have any ability to change that," added Grayston. "The land outside of the footprint is what the city exempts. We're not, at this stage, planning to not-exempt that. We would continue with the status quo. Grayston says while it is not something being contemplated now, it could still come up in the future.
Penticton taxpayers are already facing a minimum 2.6 per cent tax increase to pay for $23M in upgrades to the Penticton Community Centre Pool announced last month.
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Don Quixote Note: In Vernon :
- Tax Exemption Package - 56Kb
PLACES OF WORSHIP:
Where the church property is owned by, or on behalf of a recognized church, the land surrounding the church building may be exempted to a maximum of seven (7) times the area of the church building. Manses, including land equivalent to a normal sized City lot, are not exempt from taxation.
A List of Permissive Tax exemption was in today's Morning Star.
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