City Council has put into place a Downtown Core Revitalization Tax Exemption Program to encourage redevelopment and revitalization in our community's downtown. The program incentivizes construction or redevelopment of buildings used for commercial, light industrial or multiple family residential purposes by exempting them from municipal property taxes for a set period. See below for additional details on the program.
(Please note that this is a three year program, to be reconsidered by Council in January of 2024.)
For the full Downtown Revitalization Tax Exemption Application Package, see below:
Downtown Revitalization Tax Exemption Application Package (PDF)
Preapplication meetings can be scheduled by contacting the City's Director of Transportation and Economic Development, Paul Vendittelli at paul.vendittelli@princerupert.ca or call (250) 627 5138.
What are the available tax exemptions?
New Builds
The Tax Exemption for construction of a new Building is as follows:
- New Commercial Buildings: 10 years of non-market tax increase as a result of new developments.
- New Multi-family Residential Buildings: 10 years of non-market tax increase as a result of new developments.
- New Light Industrial Buildings (Excluding Port Authority): five years of non-market tax increase as a result of new developments.
**In the final five years of a ten year tax exemption, taxes shall begin to increase proportionally each year until on the 11th year taxes are fully payable on the non-market increase.
Existing Buildings
The amount of Tax Exemption for redevelopment of existing Buildings are as follows:
- Redeveloped Commercial Buildings: five years of non-market tax increase as a result of new developments.
- Redeveloped Multi-family Residential Buildings: five years of nonmarket tax increase as a result of new developments.
**Redevelopments must include $50,000 or more of improvements to the building exterior to qualify for the exemption.
What is a non-market increase?
NON-MARKET INCREASE means an increase in the assessed value of a Building that is greater than the average increase in the assessment of that class of improvements in the Downtown Core Area resulting from new construction or redevelopment as determined by the British Columbia Assessment Authority.
What improvements are eligible for the tax exemption?
An eligible improvement means:
- A new Building that is constructed on Eligible Land; or
- An existing Building on Eligible Land that is being redeveloped and has exterior building improvements valued at $50,000 or more.
Eligible Land means a Parcel within the Downtown Core Area, as identified in the map below.
Note: Eligible exemptions in the Midtown District are limited to multi-family residential and existing commercial redevelopments.
For more information on how to apply, contact the City's Director of Transportation and Economic Development, Paul Vendittelli at paul.vendittelli@princerupert.ca or call (250) 627 5138.