Municipal Affairs

Introduction, modification or repeal of legislation, a bill or regulation

To lobby for and support the City of Vancouver in its request to the Province to amend sections of the Vancouver Charter: 1. To change the term ‘grant’ to some other term that better describes the nature of BIA funding as recovered through commercial property taxes; 2. To change the term ‘business promotion scheme’ to a broader term that better describes the role and purpose of BIAs as they have evolved; 3. To change the purposes defined under ‘business promotion scheme’ to better reflect and enable the present day scope of BIA activities, and to eliminate uncertainty as to whether certain uses of grant money are acceptable BIA expenditures; 4. To draft new or clarified provisions for BIA by-law amendments. The Charter currently permits only limited types of amendment during the term of a BIA by-law. For example, the Charter requires that a BIA designation by-law must stipulate the maximum amount of money to be granted. Although the Charter allows by-law amendments for mid-term expansion of BIA boundaries and merger of BIA areas, it does not provide for an amendment to increase the maximum grant to cover the additional cost of servicing a larger BIA area; 5. To re-draft the Charter to authorize combining the Designation and Granting by-laws in one by-law; and 6. To replace BIA renewal requirements with a dissolution process and mechanism.

Target Contacts