Agenda Index City of Vancouver

M E M O R A N D U M October 27, 1999

TO: Mayor Owen and Councillors

COPY TO: City Clerk - Court of Revision

FROM: Ann McAfee, Director of City Plans

SUBJECT: Court of Revision Application by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association to Re-establish (Renew) the Downtown Vancouver BIA.
 

ACTIONS

After reviewing letters of objection and hearing from delegations Council may choose to:

A. APPROVE THE APPLICATION TO RE-ESTABLISH THE DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER BIA

B. NOT APPROVE THE APPLICATION TO RE-ESTABLISH THE DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER BIA

C. COUNCIL WISHES FURTHER INFORMATION

1. BACKGROUND

Sections 455 through 463 of the Vancouver Charter make provision for the creation, expansion, and funding of Business Improvement Areas (BIA). Taxation of properties in an area pays for a variety of programs to promote and enhance the area.

On July 30, 1992, Council approved the process for re-establishing (renewing) a BIA. Under the renewal process the BIA sponsor society applying to renew its mandate is required to:

· Initiate the renewal process by advising Council of their desire to renew the BIA;

· Make every effort to contact its members (property owners and business tenants within the BIA boundary) to outline the renewal proposal and discuss program and budget requirements for the renewal term;

· Put the renewal proposal before the BIA general membership at its AGM; proposal to include the proposed renewal, renewal term, renewal year-1 budget, and funding ceiling for the proposed term;

· Document the outreach initiatives and outcome of the AGM, and request that Council consider the renewal proposal;

· Council considers the request, providing an opportunity for owners and tenants who wish to speak for or against the proposal to address Council;

· If supportive, Council forwards the proposal, as a Council Initiative, for consideration at a hearing of the Court of Revision;

· The City notifies all property owners and business tenants of the Court of Revision Hearing, the proposed levy, and details on filing objections; and

· At the Court of Revision Council is advised of letters of opposition. Council also hears delegations. Council policy is that if one third of property owners, representing one-third of the assessed property value, or one-third of the business tenants, counted separately, object, the renewal application will be defeated.

· If approved, Council directs that a by-law re-establishing the BIA boundaries and establishing a new funding ceiling be prepared.

2. NOTIFICATION PROCESS

BIA applications are a form of local improvement. As such, the City is required to mail to the owners of parcels liable to be assessed notification of the project, the designated area, and estimated annual rate. The notification letter must be sent at least one month prior to the hearing. While the Charter does not require notification of tenants, it is City policy to notify business owners of a BIA proposal. Staff have notified property owners and business tenants affected by the renewal application:

· Individually addressed letters (Appendix B) were sent, postmarked on or before October 1, 1999, to 724 property owners, owning 1,620 legal parcels located in the proposed renewal area (Appendix A). Fifteen letters were returned either because the property had sold to new owners, the owners had moved, or the address was incorrect. Every effort was made to forward the letters.

· The City does not have a current record of all business owners in the proposed renewal area. Letters to business owners (Appendix C) were hand delivered to all businesses in the area (Appendix A). Over 8,200 letters were distributed.

For information, the proposed BIA levy ranges from $3.39 to $78,642.19 annually depending upon the assessed value of the property. About 990 properties will have a levy of less than $100.00, 442 properties will be charged between $100.00 and $1,000.00, and 188 properties will be charged over $1,000.00 annually.

3. LETTERS OF OPPOSITION

Property owners/business tenants who oppose the BIA renewal application were invited to either write to the City Clerk, with the letter being received by 5:00 p.m. on October 27, 1999, or address Council directly at the Court of Revision.

The City Clerk will distribute copies of all objections received prior to the Court of Revision. For information, as of 5:00 p.m., October 26, 1999, letters of objection had been received from 14 property owners (1.9% of total) representing 24 assessed parcels (1.5% of total) and an assessed value of $61,755,661 (1.3% of total). 11 tenants have registered their opposition (0.1% of total).

Several questions emerged during the public process:

· Who will be charged: The BIA levy only applies to commercial and light industrial (Class 5 and 6) properties. Some properties have mixed uses, including both Residential and Commercial. The proportion of the property value representing non- Class 5 or 6 uses is automatically excluded from the levy calculation.

· Is there a charge to property owners and to business tenants: There is one levy and it is included as part of the annual taxation bill sent to property owners. It is up to each owner as to whether they pass the charge along to tenants and how the amount charged to tenants is allocated.

· Why is there a difference between the assessed value noted in my last property tax bill, and the value shown on the BIA renewal notice? The difference is due to tax averaging: the amount shown on the renewal notice is the taxable assessed value, but should be treated as an estimate based on 1999 values. The actual levy will be based on the year 2000 values.

· Why is the levy increase shown in my renewal notice larger than the budget increase specified in the DVBIA newsletter. Government-owned properties are exempt from BIA levies, and are automatically excluded from the levy calculation. This increases the apparent share attributed to the remaining properties. Because some of the excluded properties pay voluntarily, they are manually added to the calculation at tax time. This will bring each of the remaining properties’ share down to the amount intended by the DVBIA.

4. BASIS FOR COUNCIL ACTION

Under section 506 of the Vancouver Charter a “sufficient number” of notices of objection to defeat a Local Improvement Council Initiative is deemed to be more than one-half of the assessed owners, representing more than one-half of the value according to the last revised real-property assessment roll, of the parcels liable to be assessed. However, Council guidelines apply a more stringent standard for BIAs.

Council policy with respect to BIA applications has been to identify the “sufficient number” of objections to be either one-third of the assessed owners, representing at least one-third of the assessed value or one-third of the business owners, counted separately. The one-third guideline has been used by Council to reflect the fact that Council initiatives require those who oppose an application to make thecase that the levy is not desired. Typically, local improvements involve only a few owners, and in many cases each have petitioned to have the work done. This is not the case for a BIA application. For a large area, with many owners, the task of assembling sufficient opposition is difficult. For this reason, Council policy is to consider rejection if one-third, rather than one-half, of the owners or tenants oppose the application. There is no actual experience of Council rejecting a BIA application, although earlier this year Council requested a re-poll in an application where opposition letters representing more than two-thirds of the property owners were received (proposed Chinatown BIA).

For information, should Council wish to apply the one-third guideline then:

· one-third of the number of assessed properties is 540 properties;
· since there are many multiple owners, one-third of the actual owners is 241 owners; and
· one-third of the assessed property value is $1,594,487,628.

One-third of the business tenants is a difficult number to assess with any certainty. The number is likely in the order of 2,700 business owners.

As of October 26, 1999, the number of owners/tenants opposing the proposal is considerably less than one-third. Should Council receive, on November 1, petitions, letters or delegations indicating more wide spread opposition, then it will likely take some time to calculate whether the objections reflect one-third of the assessed property value. If this is the case, Council may wish to conclude the Court of Revision and have staff calculate the level of opposition. Recommendation C offers a way for staff to provide additional advice prior to Council deciding on the renewal application.

Representatives of the DVBIA will be in attendance to respond to questions about the BIA proposal. Although not required to do so, the DVBIA has collected letters of support they intend to forward to Council at the Court of Revision. As of the date of this memo, the DVBIA reports having collected 98 letters of support, including 42 property owners, representing 32.5% of the assessed property value, and 56 business tenants.

____________________________________
Ann McAfee

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Attachment

APPENDIX B

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO RENEW THE DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER BIA

September 24, 1999

Dear Property Owner(s);

The City’s records indicate that you own property which is within the existing Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Area (BIA). If approved, the renewal will mean a BIA levy will continue to be added to your property tax. This letter contains information about the services a Business Improvement Area provides, the cost of the BIA levy, and your opportunity to tell the City whether you do or do not support the BIA renewal.

The City encourages Business Improvement Areas as a way for property and business owners to provide enhanced services for their area. The City collects the BIA levy as part of the property taxes and turns all of the money over to the BIA to use. The BIA money is administered by a Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of commercial property owners and business tenants who are elected by all owners and tenants in the area.

Earlier this year, the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) approached the City with an application to renew its mandate, which expires on March 31, 2000. In September 1999, the DVBIA advised all property owners and tenants of the AGM and renewal motion. The proposed renewal was approved at the AGM, and the DVBIA requested the City to act on the BIA’s renewal application.

However, before the BIA renewal can be approved and the levy applied, the proposal must be considered by City Council at a Court of Revision. On September 23, 1999, City Council agreed to consider the BIA renewal. Council instructed City staff to write all the property and business owners to verify the level of support for the BIA’s proposal.

The attached materials provide information prepared by the BIA which describes their proposal and the services they offer. If you have questions about the proposed BIA renewal, I encourage you to contact the DVBIA’s Executive Director, Charles Gauthier, at 685-7811.

The BIA levy is calculated based on each owner’s share of the total assessed value of properties in the BIA area. The amount for each owner varies because of different assessed values. The attached statement indicates the amount which would be assessed against your property in 2000. Over the program’s lifespan, it is possible that your share of the BIA budget may change because redevelopment activity in your area may alter each property owner’s percentage of the total assessed property value. For example, if other property owners redevelop their property, your share could decrease. If you redevelop or should other owners demolish their properties, your share could increase. Each property owner’s share will be reapportioned annually according to the assessed values determined by the BC Assessment Authority.

After you have reviewed the material, if you support the proposed BIA renewal, you do not need to respond to this letter. However, if you wish to object, please submit your objection in the form of a letter to the City Clerk, Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., V5Y 1V4, by 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 27, 1999.

The Court of Revision will be held on November 1, 1999 at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 3rd floor, City Hall. At that time Council will hear from property owners and business tenants concerning the BIA proposal. Council will also review letters of support and objections. If you wish to speak, registration for the speakers list will start at 1:00 p.m. outside the Council Chambers.

Council’s policy is that if 1/3 or more of the property or business owners are opposed, the BIA renewalwill not proceed. A copy of the City-wide tax roll, which includes the names of property owners, is filed in the office of the Collector of Taxes, ground floor, City Hall. The tax roll is updated annually and is available for inspection during office hours.

Should the BIA renewal be approved by City Council, the BIA will still need to obtain approval of the program and budget from its membership on an annual basis (at its annual general meetings) before Council releases funds. If you wish further information about the City’s role in the BIA process, please call me at 871-6304.

Yours truly,

Peter Vaisbord, Coordinator
BIA Program

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Enclosure

APPENDIX C

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO RENEW THE DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER BIA

September 24, l999

Dear Business Owner:

I am writing to advise you that the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) is proposing to renew its mandate as required at the end of its current term. The proposed BIA renewal will mean continuation of a special BIA levy on properties in the area. Since many lease agreements require that BIA levies be paid by the tenants, this letter provides information about the proposal, possible costs, and your opportunity to tell the City whether you do or do not support the BIA proposal. Because this letter is being mailed by postal walk, delivery may extend beyond the proposed boundaries. Before responding, please check the attached map to confirm that your business is within the BIA area.

The City encourages Business Improvement Areas as a way for property and business owners to provide enhanced services for their area. The City collects the BIA levy as part of the property taxes and turns all of the money over to the BIA to use. The BIA money is administered by a Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of commercial property owners and business tenants who are elected by all owners and tenants in the area.

Earlier this year, the DVBIA approached the City with an application to renew its mandate, which expires on March 31, 2000. In September 1999, the BIA notified all property owners and businesses of its AGM and the motion to renew the BIA. At the AGM, the proposed renewal was approved, and the DVBIA requested the City to act on the BIA’s renewal application.

However, before the BIA renewal can be approved and the levy applied, the proposal must be considered by City Council at a Court of Revision. On September 23, 1999, City Council agreed to consider the BIA renewal. Council instructed City staff to write all the property and business owners to verify the level of support for the BIA’s proposal.

The attached materials provide information prepared by the BIA which describe their proposal and the services they offer. If you have questions about the proposed BIA renewal, I encourage you to contact the DVBIA’s Executive Director, Charles Gauthier, at 685-7811.

The amount of each property owner’s levy varies because of different assessment values. City staff have mailed all property owners estimates of the proposed BIA levy. To determine how the proposed BIA levy could impact your business, I suggest that you discuss the matter with your landlord.

After you have reviewed the material, if you support the proposed BIA renewal, you do not need to respond to this letter. However, if you wish to object, please submit your objection in the form of a letter to the City Clerk, Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., V5Y 1V4. Written objections against the proposal must be filed with the City Clerk by 5:00 p.m.,Wednesday, October 27, 1999.

The Court of Revision will be held on November 1, 1999 at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, 3rd floor, City Hall. At that time, Council will hear from property owners and business tenants concerning the proposal. Council will also review letters of support and objections. If you wish to speak, registration for the speakers list will start at 1:00 p.m. outside the Council Chambers.

Council’s policy is that if 1/3 or more of the property or business owners are opposed, the project will not proceed. A copy of the City-wide tax roll, which includes the names of property owners, is filed in the office of the Collector of Taxes, ground floor of City Hall. The tax roll is updated annually, and is available for inspection during office hours.

Should the BIA renewal be approved by City Council, the BIA will still need to obtain approval of the program and budget from its membership on an annual basis (at its annual general meetings) before Council releases funds. If you wish further information about the City’s role in the BIA process, please call me at 871-6304.

Yours truly,

Peter Vaisbord, Coordinator
BIA Program

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Enclosure

IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM
THE CITY OF VANCOUVER
TO BUSINESS OWNERS

* * * * *

cr991101.htm

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