Most citizens of Burnaby do not want higher property taxes, and most do not want reduced City services. In fact, most citizens would like more City services for lower property taxes.
While much can be achieved with better management of City spending, the answer to meeting the needs of Burnaby’s growing population involves growing the economy with it. If the Citizens of Burnaby are prosperous, with more money in their pockets, then more money in Burnaby will change hands, rents can be paid, homes can be purchased, services and products can be bought, and the economy of Burnaby will grow.
While Burnaby has a few large employers, such as SFU, BCIT, the City of Burnaby, and others, the majority of the employment in Burnaby is still with smaller businesses that are privately owned. These smaller businesses are essential, not only to the success of our economy, but to the success of our community, and more must be done by the City of Burnaby to encourage, care for, and support the small businesses that exist, and to streamline the process of getting new small businesses open, and to work to keep them open.
Most young people without employment experience get their first jobs at small businesses. Many talented skilled immigrants to Burnaby without local references or who may still be learning English are given their first Canadian jobs at small businesses. Many families needing additional income from part time work typically find it at small businesses. Small businesses offer opportunities to the community that most large companies cannot or will not. Small businesses are the backbone of the city.
As development density grows in residential neighbourhoods, with associated economics forcing families to live in smaller homes, the public spaces, parks, and community centres are our living rooms. The City is, however, not making any more parks, and while the City is struggling to rush plans to replace aged recreational facilities the previous government turned a blind eye to, and has added the Rosemary Brown facility, with plans on the table for other new facilities, with the inflated development costs of these planned facilities, some, such as the proposed Confederation Park Community Centre, have been cancelled for lack of funding. It does feel like the public spaces and public facilities are not keeping up with the population growth.
Small businesses are there to not only fill the void, but to be the solution: coffee shops, pubs, Legions, restaurants, game rooms, sport courts, fitness centres, marshal arts training, dance classes, art classes, cooking classes, yoga, music schools, private academic classes, etc. Every small business in Burnaby is a destination for its citizens to assemble, to learn, to talk, and to be a part of our community and society. They are not just businesses, they are the community where we live.
Many people who immigrate to Burnaby come from countries with very little government interference in how or where they open a business. They have no understanding of building codes, permits, zoning or use regulations. For those who have travelled extensively, you will have seen such markets. In their countries they can rent a space one day and be open for business the next.
The current reality in Burnaby is that very few people understand what is involved to open a business regardless of their expertise in running that specific business. This is a huge problem. A person may enter into a Lease with a Landlord only to find the zoning on the property will not permit their intended use. If the zoning does NOT permit the intended use, then they cannot open their business there. If the zoning does permit the use it may be a conditional use or an outright use. Either way, if it is a change of use in the space from what the last business use was operating as, then it will require a Development Permit for a major change of use. That will require a building permit as well, and since it is a change of use it will likely require the space being brought up to the BC Building Code. This may require adding an accessible washroom, fire safety upgrades, accessibility upgrades, seismic upgrades, etc. This entire process will require an investment of likely ten thousand dollars or more just for an architect to do the drawings and application, and then possibly five or more months of time the City of Burnaby will take reviewing the application before there is an approval and building permit in hand. The result of that building permit could be the need to spend tens of thousands of dollars more on building upgrades to meet the current code. All this time the hopeful business will be paying rent to the Landlord for a space they cannot use, and sinking their life savings into a dream that is slowly fading away.
The City of Burnaby does offer a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) that may allow a use outside of the approved zoning for 3 years, with a possible renewal of 3 more years after; however, it suggests meeting with City Staff 6 weeks before submission, and the City staff then need three months after submission before it will be presented to Council for consideration. There is no guarantee Council will approve it. A Landlord will not typically forego collecting rent for four months waiting to see if a potential Tenant will be able to sign a Lease and operate a business from the property, but it is worth knowing about for some special cases.
The current reality in Burnaby in running a business is that most Leases are Net to the Landlord. This means the Landlord gets its return on investment in the way of base rent regardless of what additional costs the Tenant pays in operating expenses, insurance, security and PROPERTY TAXES on top of the base rent. When the City Property Taxes go up, with Net Leases, then Tenant’s rent goes up. The management fee to the management company will also go up with the increase of Property Taxes as its fee is usually based on a percentage of the Gross rent. The real question is, if the City’s Operating Budget requires a 5% increase in the next year to cover City increases in its expenses, should a business expect their next Property Tax bill to go up 5% too? The answer is no, because the Property Tax bill is first determined by the BC Assessment office. If the Assessed Value of the property goes up 100% from the prior year, then unless every other property in Burnaby goes up the same100%, your property taxes could double in actual dollars from the prior year. The problem is that the property is assessed by the BC Assessment Office for its Highest and Best Use, and not assessed by its current use. So, you have a small building on a lot with a shoe store, but the block next to you was just zoned for a seventy story mixed use tower, it is very likely the Assessment Office will assess the Value of your little property as being able to put a huge tower development on also, even though it does not have one now nor has any future plans for one. Your Assessment goes way up, and the City of Burnaby simply applies the new budget Mill Rate to the new increased assessed value and you get a huge unexpected property tax bill to pay. For struggling small businesses, this is often known as the beginning of the end. If a business cannot sustain paying those huge Property Tax bills, it closes up. And if no new business can pay such huge Property Tax bills, then the Landlord eventually has no choice but to tear down that small building and develop a new tall tower to spread the property taxes over greater floor area. This is the reality of property taxes on small businesses.
Understanding the challenges of small businesses is essential for City staff and Council. They have it in their ability to modify a development permit for a change of use to minimize the upgrades needed while maintaining safety standards. They have the ability to stream line and speed up the review and approval process to minimize the rent a small business has to pay on an unoccupied premise waiting months for the City to review applications. They have it in their ability to answer questions in a compassionate, patient, and caring way to people inquiring about zoning and permits, and to offer advice in advance to help new businesses make the right decisions before entering into Leases.
While the City cannot modify a BC Assessment (that is an appeal process to the Province), the City of Burnaby can modify a property tax bill. If a property tax bill has unfairly been increased, it can create programs (if it wants) to reduce that dollar value. It can (if it wants) provide an averaging program to spread the growing increase over five years which will allow a business to run out its Lease gracefully before closing shop. For non-profit businesses it can (if it wants) reduce their property tax bills.
The city should promote and assist the creation of Business Improvement Associations in the major communities to allow the smaller businesses a larger voice. These voices can help sculpture a thriving protected business community. Many small business owners work seven days a week, and more than ten hours a day and have little time to push back. BIA’s are important but sadly there are currently only two BIA’s in Burnaby.
Where high risk shelter spaces are created, which every city needs, the reality is that the businesses in the surrounding area will suffer. This is just the reality. Businesses in the catchment area of high risk shelters should be allowed to present documented increased costs resulting from their proximity to a shelter to the City to receive property tax credits to help pay for losses, crime, vandalism and security related problems.
Small businesses in Burnaby need to be understood by all levels of local government. The existing businesses need to be protected, and new businesses need to be nurtured and helped through the process of getting started quicker and with less expense. If we grow our small businesses in Burnaby, we grow our economy, provide accessible employment and that brings prosperity. That is how we meet and exceed the challenges of the growing population in Burnaby.
