By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle
The Town of Osoyoos is pressing ahead with its exemption application to the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), which could close a tax loophole for some residential property owners.
The residents of Lakeshore Drive, whose properties hold ALR designation, are currently exempt from paying the School Tax. Generally, ALR properties are also exempt from the Hospital Tax, BC Assessment, and the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA), though Shannon Duong, the Town’s Planner, said this hasn’t applied to the properties in question.
The application was discussed on April 28, through both a public hearing and a separate presentation from Duong.
At the time, the application was referred back to the Committee of the Whole after a couple of affected residents, along with the Oasis RV Resort, raised concerns about how losing ALR status would negatively impact them tax-wise.
In participating in the Public Hearing last month, Lakeshore Drive resident Anita Hendricks claimed that residents affected could see their tax bills go up by about $1,000 annually without the exemptions.
Councillor Johnny Cheong reiterated his position from two weeks prior, that since the properties don’t serve agricultural purposes, they should not receive ALR benefits.
“It’s frustrating, as someone who does pay those taxes,” Cheong said. “This exemption… it needs to end. It’s not fair to the rest of the residents of Osoyoos. And looking through historic satellite imagery, none of these properties were growing anything, since at least 2004.
“If the intent of the tax exemption is to support farming, then in this case, that has failed. That’s a lot of taxation dollars that could have gone towards the hospital, could have gone towards schooling.”
Duong clarified that the School Tax exemption only applies to the assessed value of the land itself, not the structures built on the properties.
“The tax itself is a product of the School Act,” Duong said. “The School Act exempts 50 per cent of the assessed value of a parcel of land from taxation.”
Duong further explained that municipal taxes, in particular, would not be impacted by properties having to start paying the School Tax. However, in speaking to tax bill impacts as a whole, Duong said those numbers could “vary widely” depending on the type of property.
“There are a number of factors involved in assessing land by BC Assessment,” Duong said. “That wide variation also proportionately reflects a wide variation in the anticipated tax implications if the properties were to lose eligibility for that School Tax exemption.
That disparity, as estimated using 2025 tax roll data according to Duong, could be as little as an $85 increase, or an increase upwards of $26,000. Duong emphasized the fact that these were just estimates, and that the increases are directly correlated with the assessed property value.
Eight properties not being used for agricultural purposes were identified as incorrectly receiving School Tax exemptions. This included five of the Lakeshore Drive properties, along with one property each on Cedar Lane, Meadowlark Drive, and 97 Street.
Four of the five Lakeshore Drive properties affected are used for residential purposes presently, with the other four affected properties seeing commercial/mixed-use purposes.
Councillor Zach Poturica echoed Cheong’s sentiment that the tax exemption should end.
“Part of the concern that came out from the last public hearing is that there is an inequity,” Poturica said. “There’s eight properties, and one of those properties contains 105 owners that benefited from something their neighbours don’t, the rest of the community (doesn’t), and the rest of the community pays their share of the services.
“As we’ve seen with those properties that were proposed, there is no agricultural activity in recent history that has occurred, or is occurring on those properties right now.”
A second public hearing on the ALR exemption application will be held on June 9.
