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VALEMOUNT – The Village of Valemount is the latest community to sign a Resort Municipality Revenue Sharing agreement with the Province, allowing it to share a portion of hotel room tax to invest in local resort-oriented projects and programs, Community Services Minister Ida Chong has announced.
“Resort municipalities like Valemount have unique demands and a limited tax base, but this agreement gives those communities additional resources for new local projects and amenities,” said Chong. “We continue to work closely with local governments to create vibrant, sustainable resort-based communities across B.C., which, in turn, provide tourism options, jobs and economic development opportunities.”
Under the agreement, it is estimated that the Village of Valemount will receive $260,000 over five years. Valemount will redevelop and revitalize the Cranberry Marsh-Starratt Wildlife Sanctuary by building new trails into new habitat, completing the circle route and upgrading existing trails for wheelchair accessibility. As well, two new seasonal festivals will be launched: the Valemount Bird Watching Festival and an annual Winter Festival.
“These investments mean we’ll have so much more to offer visitors to our community and we’ll be able to establish ourselves as a favourite stop along Highway 5,” said Valemount Mayor Jeannette Townsend. “We’re pleased that by enhancing our pedestrian network with additional walkways, trails and boardwalks, we’re also helping to reduce greenhouse gases.”
“Valemount has all the important attributes to attract visitors from British Columbia and around the world,” said Shirley Bond, Prince-George-Mount Robson MLA. “Our support for resort municipalities like Valemount means that these communities will be able to provide improved amenities, attracting more visitors and moving us toward our goal of doubling B.C. tourism by 2015.”
Under the Resort Municipality Revenue Sharing program, an eligible community receives a share of the provincial hotel room tax, an amount based on a formula that takes into account the level of tourist accommodation in the community, relative to other B.C. communities. To be eligible, municipalities must have tourism economies or be designated as a “mountain resort municipality” under the Local Government Act.
Communities must be prepared to put
in place an additional two per cent hotel room tax, prepare a Resort
Development Strategy that reflects the input of stakeholders and enter into a five-year results-based
tourism development agreement that sets out what will be achieved through
revenue sharing.
To date, Whistler, Golden, Rossland, Radium Hot
Springs and Harrison Hot Springs have reached similar agreements with the
Province. Seven other municipalities are currently eligible to enter into
agreements: Fernie, Invermere, Kimberley, Osoyoos, Revelstoke, Tofino and
Ucluelet.
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Communications Manager Ministry of Community Services 250 356-6334 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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