The city of Port Coquitlam is considering selling advertising and corporate sponsorships to help increase revenue but don't expect to see any major civic facilities given new corporate names any time soon, if at all.
Parks and large recreation complexes will likely be off limits, according to Mayor Greg Moore, who noted that many facilities are named after people who contributed to the community.
But he said the city is interested in increasing revenues through, for example, naming a field at Gates Park - itself named for a late longtime city councillor, Mike Gates, who was a local lacrosse star in his youth - or selling advertisements along the boards of the hockey rink at the Port Coquitlam rec complex.
"We know that property tax is under a lot of strain," he said. "We have to look at other sources of revenue."
Moore said he foresees a situation where all advertising possibilities controlled by the city - from bus stop ads to banners that hang from the Shaughnessy Street underpass - are brought under one roof.
The city is hiring a dedicated salesperson and formulating a policy about what can be sold and to whom it can be sold.
While it is impossible to predict how much money the city would make from selling ads and corporate sponsorships, Moore said doing so could bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional funds annually.
Because the revenue stream is considered vulnerable - subject to change depending on the economy - the city would not rely on it for general operations, said John Leeburn, the city's chief administrative officer. Instead, such income could be used to fund capital projects and one-time expenses, similar to how Coquitlam spends its share of revenue from the Boulevard Casino.
But while there is potential to make some additional money for PoCo, unless there are major changes at the provincial level, municipalities will continue to rely on property taxes for the bulk of their revenue.
"There is not a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," said Leeburn. "We are just trying to turn over every rock we can to see if there is something there for us."
The advertising and sponsorship sales initiative is one of the ideas put forward by the city's revenue task force, a committee the mayor set up in December to examine potential for new revenue streams.
"We have been trying to find different sources of revenue so we are not going after the homeowners," said Coun. Glenn Pollock, a committee member. "We are trying to keep taxes down and this is another way of doing it."
Coun. Dean Washing-ton, who works in the publishing industry, said bringing all of the city's advertising dollars under one roof could make it easier for local businesses to participate. It also gives the city an opportunity to get its message out when promoting local events and initiatives.
Ads and sponsorships are not the only sources of revenue the city is considering.
Coun. Michael Wright, another member of the revenue task force, said the city could look at land sales if it meant using the funds for other capital projects.
Wright said committee members are also looking at lobbying higher levels of government for changes to the PST that would give municipalities a piece of the revenue.
