Fears of lost taxes arise as non-aboriginals move to reserves
A treed area at the south end of Burrard Bridge will be under discussion for development between the Squamish First Nation and the City of Vancouver. The 11-acre tract is the Squamish band's traditional land.
Photograph by: Jason Payne, PNG, Vancouver Sun
Municipal leaders fear long-awaited reforms could see thousands of non-aboriginals living on First Nations reserves in the next 20 years yet not paying regional taxes.
The warning was highlighted in a draft discussion paper by the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee, which looked at the potential fallout from the federal First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act and the First Nations Certainty of Land Titles Act.
LMTAC, which represents local municipalities on aboriginal issues, said the move would “seem to be mutually beneficial for both First Nations and the neighbouring local government” as it would cut the red tape on commercial, industrial and residential market development on reserve lands.
But it noted some civic leaders worry that development will result in neighbouring municipalities subsidizing regional services because the region can’t collect property tax and utility fees from non-aboriginals who move into the developments.
First Nations have their own independent taxation and property assessment bylaws. Like the federal and provincial government local government taxation levies don’t apply to them, meaning they aren’t required to pay local, regional, TransLink, and school taxes.
“We’re now faced with the potential of significant growth of non-aboriginal populations that take it into a whole new dimension where the time has come that these issues and problems are flagged and addressed by the province,” said Belcarra Mayor and LMTAC chairman Ralph Drew.
Drew said many first nations have servicing agreements with local governments for the provision of utilities and other services. But those have been done on what he called “good neighbour” agreements. Local governments need more structured rules, he said.
“We are talking about the potential over the next 20 years of significant market housing developments that are targeted at non-aboriginal communities,” he said.
The Squamish First Nation is already planning to develop residential units on undeveloped reserve lands, particularly in West Vancouver and Vancouver that could add as many as 25,000 non-aboriginal residents over the next 20 years.
Metro Vancouver residents now pay a portion of their property taxes — $39 on an average $600,000 home — for things like parks and air quality. The regional district also levies through the municipalities a fee for water, sewer and solid waste.
“At the core of the discussion here is a question of fairness,” Drew said. “That fairness is that we feel that all non-aboriginal property owners in Metro Vancouver should contribute to the regional district taxes, TransLink taxes and school taxes.”
White Rock Coun. Mary-Wade Anderson, a member of LMTAC, hailed the Tsawwassen First Nation, which has signed a treaty and is now a member of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, as “a good example of the treaty process.”
The band collects regional taxes from its 400 non-aboriginal residents for Metro and TransLink and its 480 members will no longer be tax exempt after 10 years. Under the treaty, Tsawwassen has self-government jurisdiction and an expanded land base. It has a water serving agreement with Metro Vancouver and receives other regional services such as strategic planning, 911 and air quality. Delta also provides municipal services such as dike maintenance, library services and parks and recreation through a service agreement.
“Tsawwassen’s different because we have a treaty framework,” Chief Kim Baird said, adding “there’s very little inter-governmental relations between [Tsawwassen] and the municipalities. “Most First Nations negotiate service agreements with municipalities and pay through the nose for those services.
“It won’t impact us because we made a decision to integrate into the [regional district]. It was to accommodate our need as a community to have services, understanding it would make for a better region if we cooperate within the system as long as First Nations [issues] are recognized.”
Chief Gibby Jacob of the Squamish Nation said non-aboriginal residents on his nation’s lands also already pay tax levies to the band, which remits money to local governments. He said things like school taxes are paid for by the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs to the province.
He dismissed the concerns of the LMTAC report, saying first nations already have working relationships with local governments. “They [LMTAC] are just throwing out a red herring. We’ve had thousands of people living on our reserves for years and there haven’t been problems,” he said.
He predicted the Squamish will, within two to five years, have a working agreement with the province over how full property taxation will be handled.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Barry Penner said he hasn’t read the LMTAC report yet but is aware of the committee’s concerns. But, he added, there is nothing now stopping First Nations from developing their reserves.
“I am not dismissing the concerns of the LMTAC. Just as local government wants to get dollars, I know first nations want to get services and therein lies the essence of a potential bargain that the two sides have something to negotiate about.”
Penner said the federal legislation will allow, for the first time ever, for a host of provincial regulations to apply on aboriginal land. That’s important in protecting the rights of both residents and citizens at large, he said.
“From the B.C. government’s perspective, what this amendment has done is given us more authority than we would have had without it,” he said, referring to the Builders Lien Act, Civil Forfeiture Act, Commercial Tenancy Act, Dike Maintenance Act, the Environmental Management Act and the Homeowner Protection Act. Previously those provincial statutes or rules did not apply to residential developments on first nation reserve land.
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