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As beloved neighbourhood eateries, mom-and-pop shops and cultural institutions across Vancouver blamed soaring property taxes for driving them out of business in recent years, politicians said they’d look at what can be done.

Now, after several years of study, Vancouver staff are expected to propose a solution to council on Wednesday.

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Details had not yet been made public by Tuesday evening, but were provided by people who attended a closed-door briefing at city hall on Friday. Two who attended said the proposal is the biggest step yet addressing a problem business representatives have been complaining about for years.

The solution outlined at the briefing was the creation of a new “subclass” for the development potential in the air above commercial properties.

Properties are taxed not on their existing use, but based on “highest and best use,” meaning some local businesses have recently had property taxes double or triple in just a few years. Many family businesses operate in older one- and two-storey buildings sitting on increasingly expensive land. Their properties are assessed — and taxed — as though the property were developed to the highest use based on factors like area zoning. In many cases, that’s a new building with five storeys of condos above one floor of commercial space.