Metro mayors finalize the transportation referendum question
Posted December 11, 2014 11:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
METRO VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Next spring, Metro Vancouverites will be asked if they support a 0.5 per cent increase in the Provincial Sales Tax in the region to pay for transportation projects.
In a 109-19 weighted vote, Metro mayors have approved the question that will be asked in the referendum.
Staff say, if implemented, the increase would bring in roughly $250 million a year at a cost to the average Metro Vancouver family about $125 annually. They say the poorest 20 per cent of families would pay about $50 per year.
It would be the first regional sales tax in Canada, though it is commonly found in the US.
Voters in Metro Vancouver will get a mail-in ballot with the question in mid-March and we will get the results of the vote by the third week of May.