October 21 Council Notes: Langley City Officially A Bat Friendly Community. Deputy Mayor Rotation for 2024-25 Approved

Last night's Langley City Council meeting was brief.

As I posted, Langley City, through the work of our Environmental Sustainability Committee, recommended that Langley City become a bat-friendly community in July. Bats provide pest control, pollinate plants, and disperse seeds. They have a symbolic relationship with humans as they use our built environment for their homes, though because of how we build things today, there is less space where they can live now. We are trying to change that. You can read more about it in that previous post. Langley City is now officially a bat-friendly community, and we received a certificate which attests to that last night.

The Deputy Mayor takes on the role of the Mayor if the Mayor becomes unavailable. The Deputy Mayor also represents the City at events when there are concurrent events that request official representation from the Mayor's Office. Council approved the following Deputy Mayor schedule for 2024-25.

Nov. 1 - Dec. 31 - Councillor Solyom
Jan. 1 - Feb. 28 - Councillor Albrecht
Mar. 1 - Apr. 30 - Councillor Mack
May 1 - June 30 - Councillor Wallace
July 1 - Aug. 31 - Councillor White
Sept. 1- Oct. 31 - Councillor James

Council also gave third reading to a rezoning bylaw to enable a multi-phase apartment and commercial mixed-use project at 20501 Logan Avenue. You can read more about this in a previous blog post.

Finally, Council had to give third reading again to our "2025 Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw." There was a small typo that needed to be corrected. You can read more about permissive tax exemptions and who will receive these exemptions in 2025 in an earlier blog post.

Reminder: This Tuesday and Wednesday, Langley City Connects Open House Events

Last week, Langley City held our first Langley City Connects Open House at Simond Elementary School. These annual open houses take place every fall.

All Langley City departments and the RCMP will be at the open house events. Langley City senior staff, Council, and the RCMP will be available to answer your questions and listen to your feedback.

We will be able to address any topics that are the responsibility of municipal government, including policing, bylaw enforcement, transportation, emergency management, fire protection, recreation, cultural activities, parks, garbage/recycling, libraries, land use planning, and water/sewer utilities.

There will be additional information at the open houses about:

• Langley City's Zoning Bylaw Update
• Our New Urban Forest Management Plan
• The SkyTrain Project
• Our Proposed Transportation 2050 Plan
• The Langley City Emergency Program (Including Volunteer Opportunities)
• The Work We Are Doing to Address Social Challenges in Our Community

Each open house will have the same information, and you can attend any open house; no RSVP is needed.

The details are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Location: Nicomekl Elementary - 20050 53 Avenue

Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Location: Coast Langley City Hotel and Convention Centre, 20393 Fraser Highway

I look forward to seeing you there!

Langley City's Hidden Heroes Video Series

There are many workers at Langley City whose jobs ensure that we have a good quality of life in our community. I interviewed a few workers this summer to explore their roles in our community.

The first video is with James, who is a Horticulture Chargehand. He keeps our parks and plazas looking their best.

The second video is with Sonia. She takes on many important tasks in our community, including testing the quality of our drinking water. I finally learned what those mysterious green cylinders throughout our community are used for.

This video series is ongoing, and I look forward to sharing more about Langley City's Hidden Heroes.

2025 Langely City Proposed Property Tax Exemptions

In BC, a house of worship building such as a church, gurudwara, synagogue, or mosque is automatically exempt from paying property tax. However, the parking or landscaping areas of a house of worship property are not automatically exempt. Local governments in BC are allowed to provide a whole or partial property tax exemption for land used by charitable, philanthropic, and non-profit organizations.

Other property owners must make up the difference for each permissive tax exemption a local government grants.

The following math is simplified and based on parcel tax (an available tax type that Langley City doesn't use but proves the point.)

For example, if the City has a $50m budget and 8,000 parcels of property, the City would need to raise $6,250 from each property owner. If City Council granted 20 properties a permissive tax exemption, the City would need to raise $6,265.66 from the remaining property owners.

For the 2024 property tax year, the City provided $274,632 in tax exemptions, about 0.65% of each property owner's property tax bill.

All that to say, permissive property tax exemptions are not something that we take lightly.

Langley City Council grants permissive tax exemptions for all property of a house of worship. Council has historically granted permissive tax exemptions to some other organizations. The current Langley City Council has so far voted to continue with the annual renewal of these "legacy" permissive tax exemptions but has signalled no interest in expanding permissive tax exemptions.

In 2021, Langley City Council capped permissive tax exemptions to 1.4% of total property tax revenue and $75,000 per exempted property.

On Monday, October 7th, Council gave first, second and third reading of the 2025 permissive tax exemption bylaw, which will provide an exemption for the following organizations' properties:

Anglican Parish of St Andrew's - 20955 Old Yale Rd
Bridge Community Church - 5521 Brydon Cres
Church of the Nazarene Canada Pacific District - 19991 49 Ave
New Apostolic Church Canada - 19999 53 Ave
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver - 20676 Fraser Hwy
Town & Field Church - 20719 48 Ave
Vancouver Global Mission Church - 5673 200 St
Vineyard Christian Fellowship - 5708 Glover Rd
Community Police Office* - 100-20408 Douglas Cr
Convention Centre* - 20393 Fraser Hwy
Council of the Salvation Army - 5787 Langley Bypass
Langley Community Music School - 4899 207 St
Langley Community Services Society - 5339 207 St
Langley Lawn Bowling - 20471 54 Ave
Langley Seniors Resource Society - 20605 51B Ave
Langley Stepping Stones - 20101 Michaud Cr
Encompass Support Services Society - 20616 Eastleigh Cr
Inclusion Langley Society - 20689 Fraser Hwy
Inclusion Langley Society - 210-20239 Michaud Cr
Inclusion Langley Society - 208-20239 Michaud Cr
Inclusion Langley Society - 210-5650 201A St
Inclusion Langley Society - 312-5650 201A St
Inclusion Langley Society - 19977 45A Ave
Inclusion Langley Society - 4570 209A St
Inclusion Langley Society - 4830 196 St
Langley Care Society - 5451 204 St
Langley Food Bank - 20308 Logan Ave
Langley Hospice Society - 20660 48 Ave
Langley Memorial Hospital Auxiliary - 20560 Fraser Hwy

For more information, please read the Council report.

*City used or owned