Public Meeting Minutes....

MINUTES
FARM TAX ASSESSESSMENT
PROSPECT LAKE SCHOOL
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008 AT 7:00 PM

Panel: David Cubberley, MLA Saanich South; Vic Derman & Bob Gillespie, Saanich Councillors; Alastair Bryson, C. Saanich Councillor; Bob Maxwell, Chair, PAC; Brent Warner, MAFF; Ramona Scott, The Land Conservancy; Barbara Grimmer, IFA; Robin Tunnecliffe, Organic Farmer.


Introduction

Ms. Lana Popham welcomed everyone, noting that this meeting represents not only small non-ALR farms in Saanich, but all over our province. Like many others here tonight, she had a visit from the BCAA who mistakenly thought her property was not in the ALR. It took her a while to convince them that they were using an incorrect map and she was in the ALR. The attitude of the assessors made her feel that while she might be safe for now – she won't be safe for long.

The importance of local food in our region is growing – the more we hear about the potential for a food crisis, the more we should value our local producers. The face of farming has changed over the years and we have people contributing to our food supply as well as holding down other jobs. This is reality. What is not realistic is discouraging local food production due to incorrect policy.

Minister Thorpe has called for a review of the farm assessment process – and she supports this. She also supports farmers participating in the review process and calling a moratorium on the 2008 taxes for these split farms until the review has been completed.

She has spoken to Saanich and they are not counting on the money generated by these increases. In fact, Saanich Council has also requested a moratorium. Tonight, she hopes that we are able to combine our voices and make somebody listen. We have a panel of experts on hand tonight and copies of the minutes will be available to anyone who wants them; they will also be sent to the Minister. An invitation to tonight's meeting was extended to the BCAA, but they declined.

Murray Coell, MLA for Saanich and the Islands, submitted a statement from Minister Thorpe dated January 18, 2008, indicating that a review will take place, and stated:
• The Terms of Reference will be in place by January 31.
• The panel will consist of farmers, local elected officials, and provincial representatives.
• He agrees there is a need for a review in this case.
• It is important that people affected by this re-assessment file an appeal with the BCAA so they know how many people are involved.
• The BCAA is a quasi independent body of government and we can effect changes to the legislation.


Panel Members Introductory Remarks

Brent Warner – Ministry of Agriculture
• He has experience in horticulture, crops and marketing and has been with the Ministry for 30 years; he is here this evening to obtain information.
• A review is long overdue for farm property assessments.
• What is happening on farms now is very different from how it was when the rules were first established.
• It is time to look at how people make a living on the farm today.

Bob Maxwell – Chair, Peninsula Agricultural Commission
• He has farmed on Oldfield Road for over 20 years.
• PAC first heard about this situation when Cindy Stark came to a meeting and this lead to a standing room only meeting in November, with many concerned property owners, and representatives from the BCAA present.
• PAC did some research on the issue and submitted a report to the Ministry, BCAA and local Councils, making three basic recommendations:
• A moratorium be imposed
• public meetings be held
• research what other areas are doing (eg: Gulf Islands)

David Cubberley, MLA, Saanich South
• He heard about this issue in September from a farmer who was upset about the way she was treated by a BCAA inspector and his general attitude towards her type of farming.
• Establishing a review panel is only part of what we need to accomplish: we need a moratorium on split assessments.
• We have to provide the panel with some solutions to the problem – educate the panel members on the nature of farming today and come back with a policy that is viable.

Ramona Scott – The Land Conservancy
• The TLC has a stewardship and conservation programme that helps farmers who have good environmental farm practices.
• Farming has changed over the past 30 years and we know better now how important the ecosystem is to farming and how they work hand in hand.
• What is the definition of “sustainable agriculture” or “small scale intensive agriculture”?
• Agri-Tourism is also part of the mix in today's farming.
• It would benefit all farmers to have an environmental agricultural farm plan – but it seems there are no mechanisms to apply these plans and conservation covenants through the environmental guidelines in the local area plans and official community plans.
• BCAA is working in a vacuum.

Alastair Bryson – Farmer, Veterinarian
• He is a sheep farmer, the Central Saanich Council liaison on PAC and he had input at the PAC meeting in November with the BCAA.
• He not only farms his own land but leases property in the Mt. Newton Valley.
• During the review, we have to consider the value these smaller farms provide to make a healthy community; this is reflected in the community's willingness to reduce taxation on farmland.
• We have a critical situation: the capital cost of farmland now exceeds its ability to produce.
• We need to put farmland back into production at an economical rate for farmers.

Robin Tunnecliffe – Small Organic Farmer
• She and her partners own Saanich Organics and she makes her full income on ¾ acre she has leased since 1998, growing organic fruits and vegetables she sells to local markets.
• She could never afford to buy the land, but loves farming.
• If not for the farm tax designation, there would be no real incentive to lease land.
• This predicament with the BCAA is a serious threat to agriculture.
• The average farm income in Canada is less than $10,000 a year.
• Saanich has many vibrant, functioning farms and we should be proud of what we have in Saanich – and we now have to fight to help the farmers.

Vic Derman – Saanich Councillor
• He became aware of the issue last fall after receiving calls from many residents.
• It is obvious that the BCAA was not prepared to carry out this assessment and their policies fail to recognize what is happening in farming today.
• People shouldn't have to cut down trees to gain more farmland.
• Small farms contribute to the local food production; he has talked to a local restaurateur who uses only local produce in his restaurant.
• Although perhaps unintentional, the current BCAA policies seem to discourage food production.
• We have to keep a viable, rural Saanich: we need a review and we need a moratorium.

Bob Gillespie – Saanich Councillor
• There are some serious choices to make to secure the future of farming.
• Farmland is too expensive for the average person to buy today.
• In Saanich, there are some 98 farms that have been given a split assessment and he hoped the review panel will have some commonsense to protect the future of farming on the Peninsula.
• He thinks this is a tax grab – and it is wrong.
• The BC Agricultural Strategy initiated by PAC in 1997 focuses on the future of farming on the Peninsula and indicates a 34% increase in population by 2020 – how are we going to feed these people?
• We need to make farming profitable again: no-one is going to work 16+ hours a day and go home with nothing.
• All levels of government need to be supportive towards the future of farming.
• PAC was successful in securing the lowest water rate for farmers – and we are going to have to speak up again and take an important message to the provincial government that split assessments will not work.

Barb Grimmer – Director, Island Farm Association
• She farms 110 acres on the Gulf Islands and leases another 220 acres from other farmers.
• Her property is split zoned rural/agricultural; she keeps a part of the property forested for water shed purposes and to preserve wild life corridors.
• The BCAA needs to be retooled on what agriculture is about today; they should be working with the Ministry of Agriculture on this point.


Public Input

Sean Hamilton, 430 Odyssey Lane:
• He owns a certified organic lavender farm on the Peninsula and for the past five years has been taxed as a farm.
• His main concern is the way the changes to the regulations have been implemented.
• His assessment has increased by 260% this year; apparently 40% of his land is no longer farmland.
• He met with BCAA staff and within two days put together a farm plan that will qualify his farm for five years – however, after all this work he discovered that October was the deadline for filing a farm plan and therefore he has to wait until next year.
• This means he will have to pay the full amount of taxes this year.
• He will appeal this decision based on the BCAA's lack of fairness in their methods and he encouraged anyone who has been treated unfairly to do the same thing.

David Morris, 5610 Matterhorn Court:
• BCAA says trees cannot be counted as a farm.
• He sells free range eggs at $4 a dozen – and demand always exceeds supply.
• The BCAA representative who visited his 5-acre farm had no knowledge of farming and wanted him to cut down his trees because to qualify for farm tax, his entire property had to be under production - except for a ½ acre allowance for his house.
• The BCAA has changed its rules in the middle of the game – and this is not fair.

Val McDonald, 5820 Old West Saanich Road:
• BCAA representatives came to her farm last May.
• She raises chickens, turkeys, goats and bees.
• She was told 71% of her property will be taxed as farm and 29% as residential, which will more than double her current taxes.
• She spoke to the Saanich Tax Department and explained that she has a rocky knoll and a large Garry Oak refuge, with endangered native plantings similar to those found on Little Saanich Mountain. All of this is important for our ecosystems – but after speaking to the tax department she finds that keeping an ecology reserve is irrelevant.
• She also has portions of her property that are covered with water at certain times of the year – but none of this is taken into account either.
• There are only two categories: residential or farm. There is nothing in between – such a category for protecting the environment.
• She hopes that the moratorium will happen.

George Schlagintweit, 5421 Alderly Road:
• He has a small egg production business and is one of the 98 properties involved.
• His assessment tripled because out of 2.78 acre property, only 1 acre is now classed as farm.
• He meets all the farm classification standards and if this recent assessment is not changed, he has three options:
• Increase his 45 chickens to 180 to meet the $10,000 revenue quota required – this is likely to generate complaints from the neighbours.
• Fence off an additional acre of unused farmland – which would mean cutting down the trees – this would not benefit his chickens and would serve no real purpose as the trees act as a buffer for sound, odor and appearance – as well as an environmental filter to absorb chicken-based effluent.
• His final option is to discontinue his egg production business.
• Policies in Saanich and throughout the province support the retention of farmland; if he, and others, decide to discontinue farming, it will have a widespread effect on communities in terms of food security.
• He referred to the avian flu pandemic in the Fraser Valley a few years ago, where it was realized our dependence on intensive regionally-based agriculture makes the market vulnerable, and a broad, decentralized approach is more sustainable and environmentally sound.
• This approach also supports the 100 Mile Diet concept – a green approach that continues to gain momentum not just regionally but nationally and globally.
• It's unfortunate that one of Saanich Council's underlying philosophies that “actions should not be taken to discourage farm activity” is in direct contradiction with BCAA's recent initiative.

Vic Derman stated:
• That the BCAA was not sufficiently resourced or equipped to carry out the assessment process.
• It is unfortunate there are no BCAA members at this meeting tonight.
• They were at the PAC meeting in November and admitted they were not experts and were relying on the farmers to give them information on how they farm.
• However, it seems they did not make appointments with the farmers in question and so often there was no one home when they visited.
• This points to another reason why the reclassification should be rescinded and a moratorium be invoked.

Barbara Grimmer stated she was disturbed when the BCAA representatives came on to her property without being invited. Also – they were going from farm to farm with no regard for privacy and did not take precautions for things like avian flu.

Craig Beverage stated he has farmed his property on Old West Saanich Road for many years.
• Until now, the BCAA has been administered by very capable people.
• This sudden swerve in the way their policies are applied leads him to assume that this reassessment is not of BCAA's doing.
• He has read the regulations for farm classifications; the ones in place now and administered by the BCAA state that non-farmland can be included provided the farm meets certain criteria.
• BCAA has a mandatory obligation to give us farm status: he now has a split zoning and an increased assessment.
• He appreciates the panel being established but notes they can only change the legislation that is in place – we need someone to act on the decisions being made by the BCAA.
• Everyone affected must file an appeal; we have a right to bring this to the Supreme Court and challenge the BCAA's decision.

Mr. Lindsay, 5817 Wallace Drive:
• The only break that farmers in rural areas get is the farm tax – we don't get sidewalks and other services provided to residents in the rural areas.
• It doesn't seem to matter if you have a swamp, rocky knolls or forests.
• In March 2007, Bill 32 was introduced by Minister Thorpe and this changed the definition of the word “farm” in the Assessment Act.
• Before 2007, property was designated by BCAA, now it is as defined in the Assessment Act.
• This is a recent change and has had serious impacts; it is the reason for the split farm zonings.

David Cubberley thanked Mr. Lindsay for the information, noting he did not remember this change in Bill 32, nor does he think the Minister was conscious about the possible implications changing the definition of the word farm would have.
• However, the Minister is now listening – a panel is being setup – and we need to make sure we have the right people on the panel.
• At the PAC meeting last November, BCAA representatives stated the regulations had not been changed and that while the regulations enabled them to undertake reviews, they had not had the resources to enforce them.

Alastair Bryson advised that Central Saanich has already informed the Minister they would like to have a representative on the panel. He noted that properties in his municipality would be the next ones to be reviewed and it is likely that there will be many similar classifications.


Vic Derman suggested that as well as appealing the decision, everyone affected should write to the Minister asking him to have the assessments rescinded. The BCAA should admit they have made a mistake and place a moratorium on the assessments until the review is completed.

Paddie Whitehouse, 635 Lost Lake Road:
• She is a bee keeper and it is evident that the BCAA people know nothing of the importance of bees or about bee keeping.
• The way they are enacting their policies is counter-productive to the BC economy.
• She encouraged Saanich Council, and the other local councils, to enlist the support of the CRD and all BC municipalities to call for a moratorium and review and to encourage widespread participation in the review.
• The panel needs to hear from the farmers.
• Are communities willing to accept lesser taxes from farmers in acknowledgment of the food they produce?
• Smart Growth BC tells us that agricultural-zoned lands cost less in terms of municipal services than they bring in taxation. Residential properties cost a lot more.

Marshall Rosen, 6075 West Saanich Road:
• This meeting looks like democracy from the bottom up.
• Sometimes things don't work until we put pressure on the situation.
• He raises lamas and while he is not allowed to sell the manure to organic farmers, he can slaughter the beasts and sell the meat – which doesn't particularly taste good.
• He has a swamp on his property – but it is part of his drainage and irrigation pond.
• He doesn't have a lot of trees and he uses every inch of land he can.
• He sympathizes with those who have been reassessed and encouraged everyone to keep working at this issue.
• We can't let something like this slide or it will spread not only through our municipality, but throughout BC; it will gradually eat away the agricultural land in Canada.

Chris Hemeon, 5792 Old West Saanich Road:
• Contrary to belief, a judicial review of the assessment costs $30 and anyone can file an appeal – you don't need a lawyer.
• He encouraged everyone to use the judicial review process and get this thing moving.

Mr. Pearson, 5760 Oldfield Road:
• His property is less than two acres and in the ALR; he is not impacted by this reassessment.
• However, in order to qualify for farm status, he has to have sales greater than $10,000 annually.
• He has been working very hard at this for 3 years and has not made it yet.
• His neighbour on the other hand, has a 5 acre parcel and sells just over $2,500 in eggs a year – and she qualifies for farm status.
• He is pleased the panel is being set up and he hoped they would look at all aspects of farming because it is definitely necessary.
• We have to make sure that action is taken on any recommendations – it will do no good just to get written reports. We have to follow this through.
• Perhaps after the review, if it is successful, there could be more people taking advantage of the farm tax – but that would mean there are more farmers and increased food security.
• We must show support for our farmers and our local food supply.



John Harris, 3817 Duke Road, Metchosin:
• His property has not been reassessed yet – but he is on the list.
• He has a small apple farm and it is a lot of work at all times of the year.
• He has heard rumors that there are people claiming farm status that do not really farm – perhaps this is what triggered the review.
• People like this should be dealt with – the people who are legitimately farming should not be penalized, however.

Vic Derman stated:
• Saanich Council put forward a Motion to rescind the assessments, but this will not apply to properties where no legitimate farming activity is taking place.
• No additional money comes to the municipalities from the reassessments because a Mill Rate is used to establish the taxes for the entire municipality. It could mean that some properties will pay more and some less.

A resident on Linnet Lane stated:
• For the past 14 years he has met every qualification for farm class.
• Some areas of his property are heavily treed and there are rocky areas also.
• These areas have now been included as part of the residential taxes.
• He has never used any of the forested or rocky areas for residential use and he feels it is ludicrous that he has to define his boundaries.
• He urged everyone to file an appeal – and not be a minute late as there are no grace periods or extensions. The deadline is January 31st.
• The provincial Right to Farm Act overrides all provincial assessments. Saanich cannot stop him from cutting down his trees for farm purposes – he doesn't want to do this – but wants Saanich Council to recognize that he could.

Jack Mar, Mayor Central Saanich:
• If you lease your property to a bone fide farmer and have a written 98-year lease, you cannot be reassessed and you will qualify for farm tax. This is not a loop hole – it is a fact under the Farm Act.
• He is president of the Direct Farm Market Association and he has requested the executive to look at how reviews take place.
• He hopes the panel reviews would cover not only the farmers in the ALR but the smaller non-ALR parcels also.

Susan Tychie, 1885 St. Ann’s Road:
• She is the owner of SHARE Organics box program.
• She respects all farmers and knows of many people in her downtown neighbourhood who love local, organic food.
• She also respects what the farmers are doing on the front lines and she thanked them for taking this issue forward to the Minister.

Brent Mueller stated:
• One of the major problems with the whole assessment process whether on ALR or non-ALR lands is the value of assessments are not keeping up with the times.
• A strawberry farmer on two acres can only claim income from the berry itself – he cannot claim any processed product. This is a huge issue and needs to be looked at.




Bob Maxwell stated:
• PAC is concerned about the sustainability of farms.
• Growing up in the Cowichan Valley, he recalls three operational sawmills, which are now closed, plus a marina his family operated that used to see thousands of Chinooks where this year there were barely 50.
• Now he is a farmer on the Peninsula, with a career in natural resources, and he sees impact on ground water recharge, protection of our forests and now there is a threat to our farmland.
• If the BCAA and the local and provincial government policies don't change, the spiral will continue downwards into a dead zone that will be difficult to get back on track.

Laura Neil, 5709 Wallace Drive:
• She urged people to write to the Minister, and also to send a copy to David Cubberley. Public process does work.
• This reassessment not only has an impact on individuals – it has an impact on the entire province.


The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.









I hereby certify these minutes are true and correct.


--------------------------------------------------------------------
Isobel Hoffmann