LIONS Gate Christian Academy will likely be stuck with a steep municipal tax bill after the City of North Vancouver refused to grant it the tax exemption usually offered to schools.
The private, non-profit school owes $37,000 to the city but is also attempting to get a statutory tax exemption through the B.C. Assessment Authority.
The school's troubles started in the summer of last year, when it wasn't able to negotiate a new lease with the North Vancouver school district on its previous home in the former Maplewood elementary building. Nor were any of the district's other disused schools adequate for the academy's needs. With the prospect of a new school year starting without a building, Lions Gate asked the city for permission to put up a temporary structure on a vacant Harbourside Drive lot owned by Concert Properties.
City policy doesn't allow for temporary buildings, but council agreed to a two-year permit while Lions Gate Christian Academy searched for a permanent home.
At the public meeting in June of 2010, several councillors asked what impact the permit would have on the city's tax revenues. The school's vice-chairman, Rob Tarnowski, told council the school would not seek a tax exemption. But that assurance was not enshrined in any of the permit documents.
Over the following year, the school's leaders had a change of heart.
"To me this is a fairly simple thing," said Coun. Bob Fearnley. "They came in front of us; they wanted a temporary land use permit. They said they were going to pay their taxes and when it comes time to pay those taxes they appeal the notice. They made a promise; they should live with it."
Coun. Pam Bookham agreed, saying the city had a responsibility to its other taxpayers.
"We did something we don't normally do," she said. "We also allowed a school to be allowed on an industrial, commercial site. I raised the question about cost. They have a spectacular site that is serving their needs well and they bought the time. It should not put a financial burden on all our taxpayers in order for Lions Gate Christian Academy to occupy that site. We are supporting them in a tremendous way by granting them that temporary permit."
Coun. Craig Keating reiterated that Lions Gate Christian Academy had only ever agreed verbally to pay the full tax bill, and noted that many other comparable organizations get their city taxes waived.
"These are a group of community volunteers who are struggling to put a school together," he said. "They are investing major amounts of their own time and money to make this happen. This is not a for-profit business. It is a school. The temporary use permit was a question about land use, and it's not appropriate for us to deny them this permissive tax exemption."
Council voted 4-3 to deny the exemption.
