The city has finalized its list of organizations that are exempt from paying property tax next year.
During Monday night's meeting, city council approved the staff-recommended list of permissive tax exemptions totaling an estimated $1.5 million.
Under the Community Charter, the city can grant these full or partial exemptions for non-profit organizations, private schools, places of public worship and municipal tenants if they "further council's objectives of enhancing quality of life and delivering services economically."
In the summer, council's finance and audit committee approved a new set of guidelines about how these exemptions are handed out.
The new policy contained new elements to be considered such as the annual value of the exemption not exceeding the annual operating budget for the program or service delivered and that organizations meet a community need and have "substantial enrollment."
Some organizations, though non-profit in nature, have commercial operations which make them fully or partially ineligible for an exemption, said corporate services director Kathleen Soltis.
The Salvation Army was granted a partial exemption for its new location, with the exception of its thrift store space.
However, St. Vincent de Paul and the Prince George Farmers' Market were both turned down.
That's something that should be looked at in the future, said Coun. Murry Krause.
"I know we just implemented a new policy, but sometimes new policies can miss a step," he said. Non-profits shouldn't be penalized for finding creative ways of generating the necessary funds they need to provide services in the community.
"Government is saying they don't have the resources to do it, a whole bunch of people are saying they don't have the resources to do it, there's a huge [study] that looked at the creation of social enterprises in this province and people are being encouraged to do it," Krause said. "So I don't want to see them caught in the trap of being denied."
