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Editorial: How a 2013 tax exemption helped shape modern Squamish

While most political decisions are made with short-term wins in mind, some policies—like those passed by past councils in Squamish—are proving their worth years later.
The ¾¢±¬´ó¹Ï editorial team
Alex Ratson via Getty dike story Images)
In Squamish, revitalization tax exemptions put in place years ago are likely seeds that have grown into the fruit we are seeing today.Alex Ratson/Moment/Getty Images

The way our political system works in Canada encourages elected leaders to focus only on short-term, four-year gains.

If they want to keep their seats, politicians need to be able to point to things they accomplished during their term.

However, what is best for the community may require a longer-term vision.

Often, the members of a government who put in motion long-term initiatives are all but forgotten by the time those things come to fruition.

Let's examine one such policy.

In Squamish, revitalization tax exemptions put in place years ago are likely seeds that have grown into the fruit we are seeing today.

A local government council typically adopts a revitalization tax exemption to targeted areas or properties within the community to "economically, socially or environmentally revitalize an individual property or area of the municipality," according to the

Starting back in 2013, revitalization tax exemptions—basically, tax relief for new builds—were open to properties in the downtown core, industrial park and later the oceanfront.

The council of the day was made up of then-mayor Rob Kirkham, Patricia Heintzman, Bryan Raiser, Ron Sander, Doug Race, Susan Chapelle and Ted Prior.

In terms of the downtown core and industrial park, that revitalization tax exemption was open to "eligible new construction or renovations of existing buildings in specified areas,” according to the municipality's “The program [was] intended to encourage investment that [would] create new commercial, mixed-use and industrial space," 

The next council adopted a revitalization tax exemption bylaw for the oceanfront in 2015 to "generate interest, investment, activity and employment opportunities in the Squamish Oceanfront Lands, thus achieving a range of social, economic and environmental objectives for a priority area that had been vacant for many years prior to the District obtaining the land in 2004," reads the District

The council of the day included Heintzman, as mayor, Prior, Race, Chapelle, Peter Kent, Karen Elliott, and Jason Blackman.

The District currently only has one active revitalization tax exemption for a property within the oceanfront area, which expires on Dec. 31, 2026, according to the municipality.

"Since 2013, downtown Squamish has seen an increase in investment and development of new buildings," said Jonas Velaniskis, senior director of community development, in a recent email to The ¾¢±¬´ó¹Ï.

"The oceanfront has also seen major investment, which has led to commercial and pedestrian activation of the Downtown core and the oceanfront development underway. A number of factors have contributed to this, and while there has not been a full analysis as to what extent to which the tax revitalization tax exemption has contributed to the last decade of investment in Squamish, it is likely that it has had a positive impact."

The point is, we want our leaders to be thinking not just of citizens today, but of the town in the future, though it doesn't benefit them or us today.