Taxpayers rap TransLink board over new tax

The new TransLink board of directors got an earful from about 50 feisty business and residential property owners opposed to a new property tax as it held a public hearing on Monday night in Burnaby.

The board called the meeting to get the public's input into a proposal to hike property taxes, an attempt to make up a $18-million shortfall in its annual operating budget.

Now the board needs to decide by the end of the month how to make up the shortfall with a property tax divided between businesses and residents.

Both sides argued their taxes are already too high, and some chose to question why the unelected TransLink board even had the ability to levy taxes.

"Democratically speaking, you should not be addressing the public because you are not responsible to the citizens of this province," said Achilles Foufoulas, a 40-year resident of Burnaby.

The democratic legitimacy of the board's authority has been under fire since the province changed the structure of the regional transit authority in 2007, removing the previous board made up of Metro Vancouver mayors.

"You're a committee. You've been appointed to do a job, which I respect. You should be referring your findings to Victoria and we should be having a gentleman, or a lady, that we have voted for to sit on this table and tell us why we have to pay another tax," said Foufoulas.

Worries about attracting investors

Jon Garson, vice-president of policy development with the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, said he has heard rumblings that international investors are losing interest in the Lower Mainland because taxes are already too high.

"Unless we get our international signals right in terms of skilled workforce, low taxation, we cannot attract the kind of investment we need in B.C.," said Garson.

Translink chair Dale Parker was quick to point out an increase for residential taxpayers would amount to $13 on a $500,000 home.

It is not clear what the tax hike might cost businesses, but the funding hole was created when the provincial government cancelled a two-year-old parking stall tax on businesses and shops in the Metro Vancouver area.

The board has yet to make up its mind about who will pay for the shortfall, said Parker, but that decision is only days away.

The board must decide by March 31 on how to apply the new tax.

In 2007, the province replaced the previous board of TransLink made up of Metro Vancouver mayors and councillors with a new board of directors made up of political appointees.

At the same time, a new council of mayors was created to oversee the long-term planning at TransLink, but it does not direct day-to-day affairs.