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Bligh had said before the meeting that she planned to support the shift, adding: “This is for every single business to get a very clear message from this government that we value them, and while they’re trying to figure out how to make it work day-to-day, we’re in their corner.”

Timing for this decision was “extremely tight,” the city manager, Sadhu Johnston, told council. The new tax shift will be reflected in property tax notices going out in May.

In December, council ordered staff to explore the two per cent tax shift. The rationale was to support local independent businesses who have long hoped for relief after years of increasing property taxes, which many neighbourhood retailers and restaurants had blamed for their closures.

City staff reported to council earlier this month with its analysis, recommending against the shift.The report statesa “blanket” shift does not effectively target the commercial properties that need it the most, butinstead, affects them all “without considering whether or not they need any tax relief.”

Michelle Barile, executive director of the West Broadway Business Improvement Association, disagreed with that reasoning, telling council: “Some solutions that are broad are still solutions, and we need those solutions. If someone needs an oxygen tank to breathe but they also have cancer spreading through their body, do we not give them that oxygen tank?”

The staff report refers to efforts going on to find a more precise way to provide relief for the properties that need it the most, particularly those hit by soaring year-over-year tax hikes due to properties being assessed at their “highest and best use” zoning, which might be a highrise while the property currently holds a one-storey building. A group of people from various provincial ministries and municipalities is reviewing that issue.