CFIB survey reveals property taxes higher in BC than other provinces
Many businesses in British Columbia have a message for government officials - lower our taxes!
In the city of Surrey, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, businesses' property taxes are more than three times higher than residents'. According to The Province, the higher rates have local small business owners fuming. Rick Thompson of Van-Ed Equipment told the news source that he was "almost shaking" with anger because of the strain the higher taxes have put on his business.
In just the past few years many small business owners' property taxes have been increasing and the numbers often leave entrepreneurs wondering where all the money is going. Henry Von Tiesenhausen, of Commericial Electronics in Vancouver, told the news source that his property taxes had gone from $54,000 in 2002 to $137,962 in 2010.
"The efficiency of the city work is terrible, and they're obsessed right now with building bicycle lanes, and money is no object," said Von Tiesenhausen in an interview.
Despite growing concerns over taxes a recent study by the CFIB revealed that the confidence level increased to 72.3 in the national index, up from a score of 71.1 in April. In addition, the CFIB found that 82 percent of those surveyed felt that the small business environment was either good or satisfactory.
