HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1  In this Act:

"property taxes" means taxes imposed on the basis of

(a) the value of land or improvements or both, or

(b) a single amount for each parcel of land, the taxable area of a parcel of land or the taxable frontage of a parcel of land;

"Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement" means an agreement between Her Majesty in right of British Columbia and a treaty first nation that

(a) is authorized under the treaty first nation's final agreement, and

(b) sets out the agreement of the parties in relation to

(i) the treaty first nation's authority to impose property taxes on persons who are not its treaty first nation members in relation to those persons' ownership or occupation of its treaty lands, and

(ii) the co-ordination of the exercise of the treaty first nation's taxation authority with British Columbia's tax systems;

"tax treatment agreement" means an agreement among a treaty first nation, British Columbia and Canada that

(a) under the chapter of the treaty first nation's final agreement that sets out the agreement of the parties in relation to taxation, is required to come into effect on the date the final agreement comes into effect, and

(b) is tabled in the Legislative Assembly on the date settlement legislation in relation to the final agreement receives First Reading,

and, for greater certainty, does not include amendments to the agreement made after the date the settlement legislation receives First Reading;

"taxing treaty first nation", for a taxation year, means a treaty first nation that

(a) is a party to a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement under which the treaty first nation is authorized to impose on persons who are not its treaty first nation members taxes in relation to those persons' ownership or occupation of its treaty lands, and

(b) has complied with section 2 (1) or (2) in a previous taxation year.

Intention to impose property taxes

2 (1)  If a treaty first nation that has entered into a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement intends to begin exercising, in a given taxation year, its authority to impose property taxes on persons who are not its treaty first nation members, the treaty first nation must, on or before June 1 of the previous taxation year,

(a) enact a law giving effect to the intention, and

(b) provide to the minister charged with the administration of the Community Charter

(i) a notice stating that it will be imposing property taxes on those persons in the next and following taxation years, and

(ii) a copy of the law referred to in paragraph (a).

(2) If

(a) the Legislature has enacted legislation to give effect to a treaty and land claims agreement within the meaning of sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, negotiated by a first nation, as defined in the Treaty Commission Act, Canada and British Columbia in a process facilitated by the British Columbia Treaty Commission, established under section 3 of the Treaty Commission Act,

(b) a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement between the first nation and British Columbia has been negotiated to come into effect on the date the treaty and land claims agreement referred to in paragraph (a) comes into effect, and

(c) the Indian band, as defined in the Indian Act (Canada), represented by that first nation, is imposing taxes in its reserve land under section 83 of that Act in the taxation year before that effective date,

that Indian band may provide notice to the minister charged with the administration of the Community Charter, containing the statement required under subsection (1) (b) (i) and accompanied by a draft of the law referred to in subsection (1) (a), on or before June 1 in the taxation year before that effective date.

(3) If an Indian band gives notice under subsection (2), the treaty first nation must provide, within 30 days after that effective date, a copy of the law enacted by the treaty first nation, a draft of which was provided under subsection (2).

Authority to tax non-member owners and occupiers
and provide exemptions

3 (1)  A taxing treaty first nation may, by law,

(a) impose property taxes on persons who are not its treaty first nation members in relation to those persons' ownership or occupation of land or improvements within its treaty lands, and

(b) provide exemptions from those property taxes,

to the extent these are authorized by this Act or a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement.

(2) Despite the terms of a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement, a taxing treaty first nation may, by law, exempt from property taxes property that, under a tax treatment agreement, is exempt from all property taxes except taxes imposed by the treaty first nation.

(3) Property taxes imposed under a law of a taxing treaty first nation are deemed to have been imposed on January 1 of the year in which the law is enacted, unless expressly provided otherwise by the law under which they are imposed.

(4) If a taxing treaty first nation imposes a property tax within its treaty lands specifically for the purpose of raising the amount of a specific requisition received under any of the following:

(a) the Assessment Authority Act;

(b) the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Act;

(c) the Police Act,

despite the terms of a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement, for the purposes of the specific requisition,

(d) to the extent that land and improvements in the treaty lands were treated as taxable under the applicable Act for the purpose of determining the amount of the requisition, land and improvements must be treated as taxable,

(e) to the extent that land and improvements were treated as exempt under the applicable Act for that purpose, land and improvements must be treated as exempt from the tax, and

(f) the rates applied to each property class in order to determine the amount of the requisition must be applied to the net taxable value of land and improvements in each property class in the treaty lands.

(5) In the circumstances described in subsection (4), the treaty first nation must set out separately on a tax notice given to the taxpayer

(a) the amount of the taxes imposed, and

(b) the rate at which the taxes are imposed

in relation to the specific requisition.

(6) If a taxing treaty first nation imposes a property tax within its treaty lands specifically for the purpose of raising the amount of a requisition referred to in subsection (4) and, under an enactment set out in that subsection, a municipality is entitled to an administration fee for collecting the tax, the taxing treaty first nation is also entitled to an administration fee, and the provisions of the applicable enactment relating to the administration fee apply in relation to the taxing treaty first nation as if it were a municipality.

(7) On or before June 1 in each taxation year, a taxing treaty first nation must provide to the minister charged with the administration of the Community Charter a copy of any laws of the taxing treaty first nation imposing property taxes, or exempting property from property taxes, for that taxation year.

Property tax exemptions

4  Interests in land or improvements within the treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation are exempt from taxes under

(a) the School Act, and

(b) section 2 (1) of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act.

Treaty first nation delegation

5  A taxing treaty first nation may make laws delegating its authority, including law-making authority, under a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement to the extent this is authorized by the Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement.

Publication of Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement

6  The minister must publish each Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement in the Gazette and, if a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement is amended or terminated in accordance with its terms, notice of its amendment or termination.

Section 5 of the Offence Act

7  Section 5 of the Offence Act does not apply to this Act.

Amendment to this Act

8 Section 3 (4) (b) is repealed and the following substituted:

(b) the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Act; .

Commencement

9  The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:

 
Explanatory Note

This Bill

• authorizes treaty first nations that have entered into a Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement with British Columbia to impose property taxes on owners or occupiers of treaty lands who are not its treaty first nation members, in accordance with the agreement;
• authorizes the government to provide tax exemptions through Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreements;
• authorizes a taxing treaty first nation to provide tax exemptions in addition to those authorized by the Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreement;
• imposes requirements in relation to a taxing treaty first nation that levies a tax specific to a requisition from a Provincial taxing authority;
• exempts land and improvements in the treaty lands of a taxing treaty first nation from property tax under the School Act and section 2 (1) of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act;
• requires publication in the Gazette of Real Property Tax Co-ordination Agreements and their amendment or termination.