The City of Kamloops is moving ahead with its plan to annex New Gold’s New Afton Mine.
City council has approved a five-year taxation strategy for the mine that would gradually increase the property taxes it pays to the city, from $689,760 in the first year to $2.3 million in the fifth year.
As part of the annexation deal, the city has agreed to pay the Thompson-Nicola Regional District $265,000 each year — the amount the district now gets from the mine in taxes.
The city wants to strike a similar deal with area First Nations, whose economic agreements with the mine would be affected by the annexation.
It’s not clear how much money the city would need to pay the bands.
Business and client services manager Tammy Robertson told council that information is still being prepared by the provincial Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.
The Tk’emlups and Skeetchestn Indian bands have already spoken against the city’s plan to expand its borders, saying they will use “whatever legal means are at our hands.”
Threats to the bands’ revenue-sharing agreements are one of the concerns.
If the city is successful in its bid, the extra tax revenue from New Gold would be used to lower Kamloops’ heavy-industrial tax rate to $55 from about $70 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Coun. Tina Lange said she doesn’t want people to see the annexation as a “tax grab,” but as a plan to “spread out the pain for major industry, so that major industry like Domtar that is heavily taxed would, hopefully, make their business model more sustainable.”
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