2022 Property Tax Exemptions
Motion 7 · Council Meeting, April 25, 2023
Summary
- In 2022, $56.2 billion worth of Vancouver properties (11% of the Assessment Roll) were exempt from property taxes, resulting in $237 million in forgone general purpose tax revenue.
- Forgone taxes were partially offset by $31.7 million in payments-in-lieu of taxes (PILTs) from federal and provincial governments; the remaining uncollected taxes are redistributed to other taxable properties.
- There are two types of exemptions: statutory exemptions (automatically applied by legislation to properties like Crown lands, churches, hospitals, schools, and charities) and permissive exemptions (granted at Council's discretion for specific goals such as heritage conservation).
- The City's policy limits permissive exemptions primarily to heritage properties approved under the Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program (expired 2015), preferring to support nonprofits through grants rather than tax exemptions.
- For City-owned properties leased to commercial tenants, lease payments are set to equalize the tax burden compared to privately owned properties, ensuring fairness among tenants.
- The Director of Finance recommends Council receive this annual report for information, as required under Section 219 of the Vancouver Charter.