At Fancy’s Cold Cuts and Cocktails in downtown Kelowna, B.C., the owner does not fancy the province’s latest move that will make doing business even more costly.
“Crippling is a good word, just when you try and catch a breath in this industry,” said Mark Veriker.
In the B.C. budget announced on Feb. 17 , the province unveiled plans to expand the seven per cent provincial sales tax (PST) to services many businesses rely on, including bookkeeping and accounting.
The PST expansion also includes security services.
“Expense, expense and more expense,” said Paula Quinn, executive director for the Downtown Kelowna Association (DKA).
The added expenses come at a time when Kelowna businesses are dealing with social disorder taking a major toll with frequent break-ins, property damage and public mischief.
“Small companies, mom-and-pop companies that rely on security to keep them, you know, safe in their work environment and to help with the social disorder that is around us these days,” Quinn said. “The concern, major concern is that it is another slap on the businesses.”
Some business operators have spent thousands of dollars on repairs and protective measures.
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Mosaic Books even hired a security company to keep the offenders away and staff and customers safe, a measure that will come at a higher cost if the government proceeds with the plan.
“After inflicting a public safety crisis on downtown businesses across B.C., David Eby is kicking them when they’re down with a $500 million PST tax hike that is going to kill jobs and drive up costs,” said Gavin Dew, Conservative MLA for Kelowna Mission. “And make it even harder for these businesses to stay afloat.”
In a news release Wednesday, the Business Improvement Areas of B.C. (BIABC) stated that the “PST expansion targets the price of safety.”
It added that nearly 90 per cent of surveyed businesses reported that non-violent repeat crime had a moderate to very significant impact on business.
The DKA has forwarded BIABC’s information to downtown Kelowna businesses in its newsletter, stating, “In downtown Kelowna, we see this reflected daily through increased demand for security patrols, incident response, and prevention measures.”
The DKA has joined its provincial counterpart and numerous other business groups in urging the province to scrap the PST expansion plan.
“I think there needs to be more reflection before it’s actually implemented,” Quinn said. “What I would like to see happen is that business is, you know, voicing their concerns and making themselves heard.”
The PST expansion is scheduled to go into effect Oct. 1.
“They’re needed services that don’t need further taxing,” Veriker said. “I just don’t know where it’s going to come from.”
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