B.C. taxman to review “farm” status

British Columbia’s revenue minister has launched a review of what qualifies as a farm for local tax purposes.

Rick Thorpe announced Monday that a review panel, including representatives from local governments, farmers, BC Assessment and the agriculture, revenue, finance and community services departments, will perform a “comprehensive consultation” with local government and a cross-section of the ag sector in all regions of the province.

The panel members and their terms of reference for this review will be announced by the end of January, the revenue ministry said in a release Monday.

The review stems from protests last month by a number of small-scale farmers in the municipality of Saanich on Vancouver Island, following a reassessment of over 200 farm properties there. Of those, many previously classified as farms were reclassified as split between farming and non-farming use, mainly residential.

A farm property reclassified, in whole or in part, as residential would be taxed at a higher rate than farmland.

“I know this (review) will be welcome news to our local farmers who are such an integral part of Saanich,” said Frank Leonard, that community’s mayor, in the province’s press release.

Thorpe also characterized the review as a recognition of “the important contribution farming makes to our communities and the fabric of British Columbia,” noting its contributions to the Eat BC! campaign and the “100-Mile diet” concept, popularized by a pair of B.C. authors in the book of the same name.