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White Rock’s motion asks UBCM to work with the provincial government to amend the Community Charter, the legislation that sets out the authority of all but one local government in B.C.

The exception is Vancouver. The city is governed by its own charter which gave the city the authority to bring in an empty homes tax on residential properties in 2017.

White Rock’s motion proposes an expanded tax that would include commercial as well as residential properties.

Walker said there were already a number of empty store fronts along Marine Drive in White Rock.

“I would say yes, we’re looking at a situation where we have too many — maybe one is too many,” the mayor said.

“What’s the incentive for people to use those properties? We’d like the opportunity to make our community more vibrant by having homes for people who want to live in our community and commercial properties available for people who want to start businesses.”

Asked if expanding the empty homes tax to include commercial properties was an example of interference with the free market, Walker said sometimes the market fails.

“There are times I don’t think you should let the market be the be all and end all,” he said.

In Vancouver, the empty homes tax or EHT is a tax on empty and underutilized residential properties. They’re subject to a tax of one per cent of the assessed taxable value.

Vancouver estimates the revenue generated in the first year to be about $38 million.

The goal of the tax is to create an incentive to add vacant or underused homes to the city’s rental supply.

“The EHT was designed with that objective in mind,” a 2019 city of Vancouver report says.

“All net revenues raised from the EHT may only be used for the purposes of initiatives respecting affordable housing.”

Vancouver’s EHT was the first of its kind in North America.

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