By Greg Fry

Kamloops MLA weighs in on tax hikes

Apr 2, 2018 | 12:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — In case you were wondering, a raft of tax increases that went into effect April 1 was not an April Fools Day joke.

Those increases included:

• The provinical carbon tax increased from $30 to $35 per tonne meaning gas increased by just over 1 cent per litre.
• BC Hydro rates increased by 3 per cent (The BC NDP promised to freeze hydro rates, but were overruled by the BC Utilities Commission.)
• Federal tax on local and imported beer went up by about 2 per cent.
• Tobacco taxes (federal) to the tune of another $5.60 a carton of cigarettes.
• Provincial fees for home inspections increased by 36 per cent.

Kamloops-North Thompson Liberal MLA Peter Milobar says it’s the carbon tax hike that stands out most.

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“I think over the next few years as we see the carbon tax increase, it’s 1.2 cents a litre today but it’ll be an increase of about five cents overall,” he says. “And what that means to people’s household budget will be a fairly significant impact as well as to your natural gas bill.”

Milobar says the 36 per cent hike in the home inspection fees will likely be passed on to the consumer.

“Anytime you see a fee increase that’s going to get passed on to the consumer… There’s no way you could reasonably expect someone to absorb a 36 per cent increase in fees and not pass that on to their customers.”