Port Moody could soon eliminate the business licence fee for homeowners with secondary suites after city council directed staff to prepare a policy to discontinue the $130 fee.
If the proposed policy change is approved, a homeowner with a legal secondary suite will still have to get a business licence but the fee will be waived.
In a report presented at last Tuesday’s council meeting, the city’s manager of building, bylaw and licensing, Robyn MacLeod, said Port Moody collected $37,613 in revenue last year from secondary suite business licences. There are 352 licensed secondary suites in the city and each owner has to pay the fee that is charged for all home-based businesses, including daycares, bed and breakfasts and massage therapists.
Coun. Rob Vagramov said the removing the fee could encourage the licensing of more secondary suites.
“Anything we can do to remove barriers is excellent,” he said.
Coun. Diana Dilworth noted a reduction or elimination of fees was one of the recommendations put forward last year by the city’s secondary suite task force.
But Mayor Mike Clay said the city needs to take a more detailed look at the licensing fees it charges for all rental situations like multi-unit apartment buildings and short-term holiday rentals, especially as the province is considering the implementation of a new tax to apply to services such as Airbnb.
“There’s so many variables in this,” Clay said. “I think our policies are way behind.”
MacLeod noted in her report that six of 14 Lower Mainland municipalities charge an annual licence fee for secondary suites ranging from $50 to $450. That’s in addition to utility charges collected by all municipalities that range from 40% to 100% charged for a typical single-family residence. Last year, Port Moody received $83,000 from utility charges to owners of secondary suites.
Council will consider the policy at its next meeting March 13.
