Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson wants Victoria to transfer an increasing share of provincial carbon tax revenue to municipalities for carbon-reducing projects.
The stance builds on Metro Vancouver mayors’ position that a dedicated share of carbon tax revenue be spent on public transit.
Robertson wrote in a letter to Victoria as part of the carbon tax review process that the carbon tax plays a key role in Vancouver meeting the comprehensive and ambitious targets established in the City’s 2020 Greenest City Action Plan.
He noted that municipalities currently rely primarily on property taxes to make crucial investments in transit, green infrastructure and carbon-reducing projects.
“Both the City of Vancouver and the province have reduced their emissions while seeing increases in population and employment, demonstrating that leadership on climate change goes hand in hand with a healthy economy,” Robertson wrote.
“There is clear support from academia, local government and business for the reinvestment of carbon tax revenues into projects that maximize the societal benefits for B.C.”
Former premier Gordon Campbell introduced the world’s first broad-based carbon tax on July 1, 2008, to discourage the use of fossil fuels.
The tax applies to sales in B.C. of fuels such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, heating fuel, propane and coal as well as to peat and tires when used to produce energy or heat.
The tax began at 2.41 cents on each litre of gasoline purchased and has been hiked annually so that it will reach 7.24 cents per litre later this year.
The tax is expected to bring in $1.17-billion in the 2012 fiscal year that begins on April 1. Tax cuts associated with the so-called “revenue-neutral” tax are expected to be $1.28-billion in the 2012 fiscal year.
Ministry of Finance statistics show that the carbon tax has returned $500 million more to taxpayers in tax reductions than it has raised in revenue.
