The provincial government is offering a compromise on its new gas tax to some municipalities across the province.
Just hours after the Union of BC Municipalities passed a resolution to lobby against some aspects of the tax, Premier Gordon Campbell announced the province’s new “Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program.”
The program would provide grants to municipalities equal to the amount they paid in the preceding year for carbon taxes. There’s just one catch: municipalities must promise to become carbon neutral by 2012 in order to qualify.
That promise requires them to sign the BC Climate Action Charter, and provide annual updates on their progress towards becoming carbon neutral.
The plan still has to be approved by government in a session slated for next February. If it’s approved, municipalities should expect to see a grant by March 31st of next year.
The Provincial Opposition has not yet issued a response to the plan.
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