Pitt Meadows council wants CP Railway to pay more local taxes due to company's impact on city

Council in Pitt Meadows, B.C., wants Canadian Pacific Railway to pay more local taxes to better reflect the impact its operations have on the city's residents.

On Tuesday night, council voted to direct staff to kick off a push to have the tax classification changed for the railway, which cuts right through the middle of the city and creates noise and pollution, according to the mayor.

It's the start of a longlobbying effort that will have to go through the Lower Mainland Local Government Associationbefore it's taken to the Union of B.C. Municipalitiesand finally the B.C. government.

City officials sayit would increase the taxes CP Railway pays Pitt Meadows from the 2020 total of about $1.7 million to more than $2.1 million.

If council is ultimately successful, the impact would not be limited to Pitt Meadows the change would take effect across the province, meaning any municipality with railroads and railway operations would receive more tax revenue fromrail companies.

Railways are currentlygiven a tax classification ofClass 6, which is described as "business and other" and mostly covers properties like offices and retail space. Pitt Meadows council wants to have that changed to Class 5, which is light industrial.

The impacts of the railway in Pitt Meadows, according to Mayor Bill Dingwall, include diesel particulate, noise and vibrations affecting residential neighbourhoods, and loud bangs from train cars couplingalong the tracks all of which he considers inconsistent with the current classification.

He said the company runs about 45 trains through Pitt Meadows each day, and about 1,000 trucks access the large intermodalfacility near the Pitt River, where goods are loaded and unloaded. He said the operation continues 24 hours a day and seven daysa week.

"If you look at the impacts of rail going through your community it's not the same as a dentist," Dingwall said.

Proposed railway expansion

The railway's tax rate recently caught council's attention whenthe company proposed a major expansion in Pitt Meadows on about 100 acres of agricultural land it had purchased to the south of its intermodal facility.

Dingwall said the entire counciland many members of the community are opposed to the expansion, which would include grain silos andfuel storage both considered a high hazard, especially for a city without a full time fire department.

If the railway's tax rate is changed to Class 5, the annual taxes on the proposed facility would increase by about $660,000.

Dingwall said the council is unanimously behind a separate plan involving the railway a $141 million project to build road crossings that wouldn't be interrupted by regular trains.

CBC News has contacted CP Railway for a reaction to the council's vote.

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