West Van Mayor Proposing Vacancy Tax

The Mayor of West Vancouver has suggested they want to add a Vacancy Tax in addition to the Speculation Tax.  The idea behind it is that the revenue would go directly into West Vancouver, as opposed to the Speculation Tax which is Provincial.   Mayor, Mary Ann Booth, states that the money received from the tax would go towards creating “affordable housing”.  She cites one of the issues is the effect on the business community when the number of residents is less than it should be. I definitely agree with Booth's statement that West Van is negatively impacted by the number of vacant homes as it hits our small business community hard when the number of consumers is much smaller than it should be.  It is an ongoing problem in WV and businesses are struggling to survive.  Having been a member of the founding board of the Ambleside Dundarave Business Improvement Area, I know what a serious concern this is. I’m not sure “affordable housing” is a word that can be used in conjunction with West Vancouver. My other concern is that the article states there are 1700 empty homes, but I’d like to know how they arrived at that number.  Most of my fellow Realtors I have talked to about this agree with me that number is likely very conservative.  West Van doesn't have the power to approve this tax, it would require Provincial legislative changes.  Read the article here