HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Community Charter

1 Section 220 (1) (l) of the Community Charter, S.B.C. 2003, c. 26, is repealed and the following substituted:

(l) a building owned by an incorporated institution of learning that is regularly giving children instruction accepted as equivalent to that given in a public school, and that is actually occupied and wholly in use by the incorporated institution for the purpose of giving the instruction, together with

(i) the land on which the building stands, and

(ii) an area of the land surrounding the land referred to in subparagraph (i) or improvements on the area of land, or both, that are owned by the incorporated institution and that are reasonably necessary for the purposes of the incorporated institution, including, without limiting this, the following areas of land and improvements:

(A) playing fields, athletic grounds and facilities, playgrounds and improvements related to any of them;

(B) storage, maintenance and administrative facilities;

(C) dormitories for students;

(D) parking lots, walkways and roads; .

2 Section 224 is amended

(a) in subsection (2) (h) by striking out ", (j) [hospitals] or (l) [private schools]," and substituting "or (j) [hospitals],",

(b) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraph:

(h.1) in relation to land or improvements, or both, exempt under section 220 (1) (l) [private schools], any area of land surrounding the exempt land or improvements; , and

(c) in subsection (5) by striking out "subsection (2) (f) and (h)." and substituting "subsection (2) (f), (h) and (h.1)."

Taxation (Rural Area) Act

3 Section 15 (1) (o) of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 448, is repealed and the following substituted:

(o) a building owned by an incorporated institution of learning that is regularly giving children instruction accepted as equivalent to that given in a public school, and that is actually occupied and wholly in use by the incorporated institution for the purpose of giving the instruction, together with

(i) the land on which the building stands, and

(ii) an area of the land surrounding the land referred to in subparagraph (i) or improvements on the area of land, or both, that are owned by the incorporated institution and that are reasonably necessary for the purposes of the incorporated institution, including, without limitation, the following areas of land and improvements:

(A) playing fields, athletic grounds and facilities, playgrounds and improvements related to any of them;

(B) storage, maintenance and administrative facilities;

(C) dormitories for students;

(D) parking lots, walkways and roads;

(o.1) in relation to property exempt under paragraph (o), any area of land, surrounding the exempt property, that the minister, by order, may exempt; .

Commencement

4  This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent.

 
Explanatory Notes

SECTION 1: [Community Charter, section 220] expands the exemption for independent schools to include areas of the land surrounding the land on which the school stands or improvements on the areas if the land and improvements are used for school purposes.

SECTION 2: [Community Charter, section 224] is consequential to expanding the statutory exemption for independent schools.

SECTION 3: [Taxation (Rural Area) Act, section 15]

• expands the exemption for independent schools to include areas of the land surrounding the land on which the school stands or improvements on the areas if the land and improvements are used for school purposes, and
• consequentially modifies the permissive exemption power and expands that power to include improvements.