Several home-based businesses, including a number of daycares, will not be billed twice for utilities in 2012 after a heated debate at the District of Squamish (DOS) council meeting on Tuesday (May 1).
Coun. Susan Chapelle originally put forth a motion to amend the bylaw in which home-based businesses with less than three full-time employees are charged twice for utilities.
This bylaw badly needs updating and I don't think its changed since the 1970s, she said. By having this bylaw we're missing out on business licenses and driving business underground. We need to develop a home-based business policy as a part of economic development.
Coun. Doug Race said Chapelle may have a point but wanted staff to investigate further rather than rush into a vote on the issue.
I have difficulty with these notice of motions because it seems like it just came off a councillor's desk, he said. I think they're technically deficient in some way and not fully investigated by staff. I look at this and think we don't have the kind of information that we usually have in front of us when making decisions.
Coun. Ron Sander agreed with Race, citing concerns about the amount of information available to councillors.
We don't want to miss out on pertinent information, he said. If you just jump into it, you're not doing a proper job. I don't think the right amount of work has been done here.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman insisted that the entire issue was more of a billing error than a potential bylaw change.
This is more of a billing issue, she said. We need to ask staff to review the bylaw and suggest some changes, but this year's problem is a billing mistake. We should correct the billing that went out this year and reimburse those who were unfairly charged. Amending a bylaw is difficult but simply correcting a mistake isn't an onerous task.
Joanne Greenlees, DOS general manager of financial services, told council that the billing was not a mistake by staff.
This billing is consistent with our bylaws and the concept is the same, she said. If the utilities are for different uses then there are additional charges. I don't believe the billing to be a mistake.
Greenlees said approximately 30 home-based businesses were billed this year and that in research compiled by staff, 25 of 49 communities of comparable size to Squamish all had flat-rate bylaws. Heintzman said the problem is consistency as the bylaw states that only bed-and-breakfasts and spas are to be billed double for utilities. She questioned why daycares were being dinged.
If staff had come to us and said daycares were being charged extra, then we wouldn't have supported this, she said. We should consider this a mistake, clean the slate for 2012 and create a home-based business bylaw for next year.
Mayor Rob Kirkham steered the conversation back to the issue at hand and explained why he could not support Chapelle's motion.
I cannot support the motion as it's presented, he said. This will have a very broad impact on our community and staff have been working on this issue for quite a while. Coun. Chapelle has raised some valid points and I do believe we need to review the bylaw and come up with a workable and equitable plan.
The motion was eventually defeated with Race, Kirkham, Coun. Ted Prior and Sander opposed. Immediately after Chapelle's motion was shot down, Heintzman put forth a motion to not bill home-based businesses utilities in 2012 and it was seconded by Prior.
We're fiddling with taxes here without staff consultation, Race said. If we do this it looks like we are assisting businesses.
Sander disagreed, saying the taxation should return to the way it was before this year and allow staff to further investigate the home-based business issues. After Chapelle told Greenlees that the bylaw states that only spas and bed-and-breakfasts should be double-billed, Greenlees admitted that the staff systems are not always perfect.
My point of view is that these businesses were not billed fairly, Heintzman said. The billing seems to be random with tons of home-based businesses not being billed. We need to make it fair and clear for everyone.
Coun. Bryan Raiser agreed with Heintzman.
We have to figure out a home-based business bylaw and it makes sense to forgive this year until we have a proper bylaw in place, he said.
The motion was passed with Sander, Race and Kirkham opposed, leading to applause from the packed council chamber. After the motion passed, Kirkham asked Greenlees if council had instructed staff to work in contravention of the bylaw by passing the motion. Greenlees said it had.
