Give business back the municipal vote

Guest Commentary by Brian Bonney

Up until 1993, B.C. small businesses could vote in municipal elections. This ability to vote recognised the contribution small and medium sized businesses make to the economy and to our communities. The decision to rescind the business vote was an historic mistake that must be corrected.
Like the Boston Tea Party, it’s an issue of taxation without representation. B.C.’s small businesses are being taxed to the breaking point by municipal governments. Businesses pay on average three and up to seven times more property tax than a resident on same value property.
In Vancouver, a resident paid $3,870 on an average residential property worth $941,999 in 2008. A business owner paid $18,973 — over five times more—on the same value property. To add insult to injury, businesses pay for their garbage collection on top of that.
Yet a January 2007 study by the City of Vancouver shows that businesses use only 24% of municipal services while residents use 76%. If residents were taxed like businesses, there would be a tax revolt.
Over-taxed and under-represented, small and medium sized businesses are the backbone of B.C.’s economy. They account for 98% of all businesses and 34% of our gross domestic product. 82% have fewer than five employees and together they employ 56% of B.C.’s private-sector workforce.
Many small business owners work over 60 hours a week. Many take very personal risks like mortgaging their homes or taking out loans against RRSPs in order to start, expand or keep staff employed in tough circumstances.  In the recent recession, businesses with 1 – 19 employees only laid-off .5% of their staff compared to businesses with more than 500 employees that laid-off 8.8%.
The next time you drive by a soccer field or baseball diamond think about the small business that likely donated the children’s uniforms. In many cases, the teams coach has more than likely been let off early by a Vancouver business owner to help teach our kids or is possibly a small business owner themselves.
Small business owners take tremendous personal risks that drive the economy and benefit society in general.
So how can we get municipal governments to recognize this vital contribution?
The answer lies in a well-established principle—no taxation without representation. If municipalities are going to tax small businesses to the hilt, fairness requires we grant business owners the vote.
Robin Blencoe repealed the business vote in 1993 claiming that it removes the possibility of people simply leasing parking spots and storage lockers to vote. Blencoe’s flippancy was just one indication of how decision-makers overlook the concerns of small businesses.
In London, England, the birthplace of our democracy, businesses have a number of votes based on their number of employees. CFIB suggests every business would qualify for one vote only, whether they own, lease or rent their premises, just as residents qualify regardless of whether they own, lease or rent a home.
In B.C. the business right to vote in municipal elections was removed. This decision reflected widespread ignorance about small businesses owners - the risks they take, their importance to the economy, their contributions to society, their heavy tax burden and their lack of representation.
Business owners deserve fair representation. The only thing that will start to grant them representation with their municipal tax masters is restoration of the municipal business vote.
Brian Bonney is Director of Provincial Affairs, BC for Canadian Federation of Independent Business