From a Vancouver Sun article about shifting tax burdens for the province posted by New Junky:

The convention comes on the heels of a business taxation report that suggests provincial and federal government decisions have had negative financial implications for local government.

The report by an expert panel also suggests the province doesn’t have any more money to dole out, Moore said. But he takes heart in a recommendation that the province work with municipalities to find alternate forms of funding to provide services.

“We really feel there hasn’t been a lot of cooperation,” he said.

Delegates’ resolutions include using development cost charges to fund projects such as recreation centres, fire halls and flood mitigation. Moore said other suggestions will focus on grants and shifting existing taxes — such as income, corporate and sales taxes — from the province to the municipalities, where they originate.

Moore noted changes in everything from improved workplace standards in fire halls to cameras in jail cells and rifles for RCMP vehicles have a financial effect on local government.

“We have to pay the price with no revenue coming with it,” he said.

It seems that local governments are becoming increasingly dependent on Development Cost Charges.

It seems like a bad way to pay for essential services like fire halls. How are we going to pay for these things after all the real estate development stops/slows because of a real estate crash???

Are city councils going to approve real estate development projects that are bad for the community simply because city finances are addicted to Development Cost Charges just to keep the fire halls functioning???

Read the full article here.