'Not a Walmart affordability crisis': Critics rip shift in taxes from business to residents in Vancouver

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‘This is bad for affordability. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis and … it’s kind of the exact opposite of what people elected us to do,” says mayor

Vancouver city council’s hasty decision Monday to shift business property taxes to residents will harm affordability and barely help small businesses, say housing providers and the city’s own mayor.

“This is bad for affordability. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis and essentially this is going to do the most damage to rental housing while at the same time it’s not going to do much to help independent businesses. So it’s kind of the exact opposite of what people elected us to do,” said Stewart, who voted against the move.Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I’m really hopeful that we will get the changes we need to our charter to provide this deep relief for small business. I’d much rather concentrate on that than this kind of blunt policy tool,” he said. “I think there’s quite a lot of chins hitting desks across the city as people wonder, A: what was the rush, and B: what could possibly be the rationale?” Armstrong said in an interview Tuesday.

“There wasn’t an issue that had more prominence in the municipal election campaign than affordable housing,” Armstrong said. “It’s a really difficult choice. … I’m a renter in Vancouver and I have been, in my younger years, a low-income renter. And so I understand the pressures of really pulling together every single dollar to make things work,” Bligh said.

 

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We all want to help small businesses. Making housing even more unaffordable is worst idea. Must fix the provincial rules/tax structure for biz tax: Councillors say this has been worked on for 10 years and we are moving towards a solution - does not inspire me! Disappointing.

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