A Metchosin resident is calling on the provincial government to make changes to the way the rural homeowners grant is distributed.
David Kirkham believes it’s unfair that residents in Metchosin, Highlands and East Sooke do not qualify for the grant.
“In Metchosin, we’re all on acreages. It’s a rural lifestyle, there’s sheep farming and agriculture. It’s not urban in any shape or form,” said Kirkham, who has lived in the municipality for the past 10 years. “We get lumped in with the Capital Regional District, which is too bad.”
The homeowner grant program was established in 1957 to help eligible homeowners with their property taxes. The province added an additional rural homeowners benefit to those living outside of the Capital Regional District, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Regional District in 2011.
In addition to the $570 basic grant, homes located in northern or rural areas are eligible for $770.
Locally, Kirkham has paid roughly the same amount in property taxes over the last few years. This year since his property assessment went up, Kirkham anticipated his property taxes would as well, but was shocked when it went up by $616.
“It doesn’t seem fair that a resident in an urban neighbourhood in Duncan gets the rural homeowners grant, but a resident on rural property in Metchosin does not.”
Kirkham’s sister-in law lives in an urban area in Duncan and receives the grant.
“My property taxes increased by $616 this year over last and it would have been helpful to cushion that increase.”
Kirkham recently brought up the issue to NDP MLA Mitzi Dean in an email. He hopes the provincial government will consider reviewing the grant and including other rural municipalities or doing away with it all together.
“If you’re going to have rules, make them fair,” he said. “I don’t like when governments come in and arbitrarily favour one group of citizens over the other.”
The ministry did not provide comment before the Gazette went to print.