Socialism Descends on B.C.

Again.
You'd think that people would remember the NDP's impact on the province during their two terms in the 1990's.

Thanks to Dr. Weaver of the Greens, the province is back into the dog eat dog world of wealth redistribution courtesy of Premier Horgan of the NDP or, rather, wealth "trickle down" to the have-nots.

"Budget 2018 lifts people up," said Finance Minister Carole James in her address to the legislature.
Really?
Maybe folks on the Lower Mainland really believe that house prices--admittedly unaffordable, as has always been the case in other big cities such as Toronto, London (England), Manhattan, Zurich--will decrease to the levels seen, say, in the 1970's so that they can finally afford a single family home!
Obviously the NDP feels the new speculation tax will do just that.

Tax, tax, tax.
New taxes.
For the time being it's only in "hot" market areas.
But if you believe that the NDP won't extend this tax to all of B.C., then I have a lead on some Arizona oceanfront you'd be interested in!

Norman Mailer  once said

  “The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level”

  

and Larry Sechrest was quoted as saying

 ”Each new government regulation

 taxes the private sector,

 relentlessly shifting resources

 out of the hands of the productive,

 and into the hands of the unproductive.“ 

 

A few of B.C.'s new rules:

The location-specific property tax:
This new, annual property tax will apply to foreign and domestic homeowners who do not pay income tax in B.C., including those who leave their properties vacant.
The new tax will initially apply to homes in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and capital regional districts in Victoria and Nanaimo, Kelowna and West Kelowna.
In 2018, the tax rate will be 0.5 per cent of assessed value. In 2019, it will rise to 2.0 per cent of assessed value.

The "enhanced foreign buyer's tax":
Effective Wednesday, the government will increase the foreign buyers tax from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
While it's currently only in Metro Vancouver, it will be extended to the Fraser Valley, the capital regional districts in Victoria and Nanaimo and the Central Okanagan Regional Districts.
"We think that foreign buyers should contribute more for the high quality of life they enjoy in our province," said the NDP's finance minister James.

Hit the employers...hard.

MSP premiums downloaded to employers:
The budget will eliminate Medical Service Plan premiums on Jan. 1 2020.
As part of eliminating the premiums, the province will put in place a new payroll tax for employers starting on Jan. 1, 2019.
Businesses with a payroll of more than $1.5 million will pay a tax of 1.95 per cent on their total payroll.
Businesses with a payroll between $500,000 and $1.5 million will pay a reduced rate. Those under $500,000 will not pay at all.
"We believe this is a fair process," said James. "We believe this is manageable."

It's fair?  Why?
Because the NDP believes no-one should get ahead (i.e. business owners purportedly earning a profit) without "pulling up" their slaves....er...a... employees.
Never mind the recent increase to minimum wages...that's not enough, according to the NDP.
Let employers pay for their employees' medical premiums.

Manageable?
Fair?
Apparently so, according to the NDP, who salivate at the mere thought of shuffling the social order.

The internet artist forgot to place the club in Horgan's hand..and mark the year as 2018.

There are other budget items that this blog won't illuminate.
Little items like increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by ~50 cents.
But let's make sure that the seriously disadvantaged/addicted folks continue to have their safe-injection houses so they can, at least for a few hours, drop out of a potentially meaningful spot in society.
Hell, if left to the NDP's plans, maybe they'll have MY house one day!

Don't believe for a moment that my slap of the NDP means I am a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal.

I now frequently recall the long-ago words (as I approached voting age) of a very wise gentleman:

"Don't let idealogy cloud your vision...

vote for the  party

 that will do you and your family

the least amount of harm."

The words were those of my Dad.

I'll never forget them.

Or him.

"Make sure you pass that on to the next generation," Kia would've said.

Yup.

Done!

  

Damaging Property Tax

Property taxes have long been a bone of contention for owners of residential property, who today are facing tough economic times.  Add to that the ever-increasing fees for base rates and water consumption and something needs to be done.

But government is averse to letting the largest contributors to their revenue--domestic customers--off the hook.  Government states that residential properties are the largest users of government services.  That may well be the case.

Government must however listen when two of the largest businesses--one industrial which provides much of the area's employment, one agricultural--cry foul of the gouging that is now commonplace.


From the recent District of Coldstream's council meeting:

"Coldstream Ranch has requested several times since 2012 that Council review its current tax multiplier and give consideration to reducing the rate.  At each time, Council reviewed the request and determined that the current tax rate multiplier would remain at a rate of 4.5:1.

Subsequent to these requests, at the March 9, 2015 Council, Mr. Keith Balcaen from the Coldstream Ranch came as a delegation to Council and expressed his disappointment and dissatisfaction with respect to the tax multiplier for farm property in the District of Coldstream.  He indicated that farm operations in neighbouring jurisdictions enjoyed a much lower tax multiplier and that if his business was located almost anywhere else, he would save as much as 12% in taxes.  He suggested that if Council was serious about encouraging agriculture in the District that they should make it less onerous, financially, for agricultural producers.  He further stated that the tax multiplier was unfair and punitive to agricultural producers and that he expected Council to reconsider the issue."

Several years ago, Tolko Industries requested that their tax multiplier be revised as well.

"Coldstream Council's Tax Policies:

• where possible, supplement revenues from user fees and charges to help offset the tax burden of the property tax base.
• the class 2 rate will be set at the maximum rate as permitted under current legislation.
• the District will seek to reduce the class 4 tax rate by 2.5% per year.
• the class 5 rate will be calculated as a multiplier of the residential rate.  The District will seek to maintain this multiplier at a rate of 2.95 to 1.
• the class 6 rate will be calculated as a multiplier of the residential rate.  The District will seek to maintain this multiplier at a rate of 2.4 to 1.
• the class 8 rate will be calculated as a multiplier of the residential rate.  The District will seek to maintain this multiplier at a rate of 1.0 to 1.
• the class 9 rate will be calculated as a multiplier of the residential rate.  The District will seek to maintain this multiplier at a rate of 4.5 to 1."

“Distribution of Property Taxes:

The distribution of the property tax revenue across the different property classes is as follows:

C1	Residential	90.37%
C2	Utilities	0.99%
C4	Major Industry	3.59%
C5	Light Industry	1.24%
C6	Business/Other	1.86%
C8	Rec/Non-profit	0.20%
C9	Farm	1.75%
		100.0%

  
"Objective:

• Over the next several years, reduce the share of property tax paid by Major Industry.
• In the longer term, ensure that the light industry and major industry rates are aligned with other competitive municipalities.

 

"Government would never think to decrease their budget requirements," intones Kia, "no, they'd never think of easing the burden on business and residential payers."

But that's the only way it'll work.

In the interim, major industry's contribution will decrease by 2.5 per cent per year.