Prince George City Council is forwarding a resolution to the North Central Local Government Association, advocating for a mechanism to recuperate the equivalent of property tax for childcare centres operating on school property be established.
Councillor Tim Bennett noted when a childcare centre is operating within a school, it’s tax exempt.
“This doesn’t necessarily stem to ‘I want to go after and start taxing every child care centre that’s at a school,” said Councillor Tim Bennett.
“It is about ensuring there is fairness within, especially now that childcare’s primarily driven through non-profits, that’s there’s fairness from organization to organization.”
Bennett added there’s been an influx in the number of childcare centres operated in schools.
“There’s been lots of changes to the School Act that are going to push childcare centres into schools,” he said.
“We recently saw an announcement of three new significant centres being built over the next three years on school district property, so I think it’s important that we start this conversation now.”
“I think we have to balance it with the need for childcare spaces,” said Councillor Brian Skakun.
“We want to make sure the folks going into the vacant schools aren’t hit unexpectedly with a big tax bill, so we have to make sure as we go forward, we get some consultation with them as well.”
The 2024 NCLGA Convention will take place in May.
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