The District of Houston appreciates a major one-time provincial grant from the province but says the answer to its finances remains in a long-term taxation revenue sharing deal, says mayor Shane Brienen.
“Houston could use the $1.759 million to progress strategic projects that require financing,” Brienen said following the news March 3 of the grant that is part of a $1 billion distribution to local governments by the province.
“However, communities across our region need reliable and sustained funding to stay sustainable,” he said. “This is especially true for communities like Houston that are facing significant challenges because of shifts in our provincial economy.”
“We appreciate the Growing Communities Fund monies, and we will continue to advocate for the provincial government to invest in Houston like Houston has invested in the provincial economy for many decades.”
So far the province is saying the money should be used for capital projects such as roads but has yet to release exactly how it wants local governments to spend the money.
The grant for Houston and other local governments came just a few weeks after Brienen and other representatives from local governments in the northwest gathered together as the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance were in Victoria to continue lobbying for a share of the taxation the province collects from major resource industries.
Alliance members for years have been saying that because most major industries are located outside of local government boundaries, they aren’t taxed by local governments despite being affected by the industries.
Houston’s $1.759 million was determined by a formula that began with a base $500,000 going to each of the 188 municipal governments and regional districts in the province.
The final amounts were then determined by the population of each municipal government and regional district and their growth between 2016 and 2021 as calculated by the provincial BC Stats bureau.
In this area, because of the impact of the $500,000 basic grant, the Village of Granisle received $1,974 for each of the 312 people that BC Stats calculated as living there in 2021.
Houston grant, when divided by the 3,183 resident calculation, works out to $552 per capita.
In Smithers the per capita amount is $406 while in Burns Lake it is $647.
age of Granisle received $616,000, because of the $500,000 basic grant, the Village of Granisle received the most for each resident based on the BC Stats population estimate of 312 people.