Over $90,000 in traffic fine revenue comes back to City from Province
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
Two cash injections from the Province Friday will sink over $360,000 back into the City of Nelson coffers.
In the first Strategic Community Investment Fund (SCIF) installment for 2011, Nelson will receive $248,545 in Small Community Grants to support investments in local government services.
The City will also receive $91,413 in net traffic fine revenues for a total of $339,958.
Nelson will also be reimbursed for the carbon taxes they paid in 2010. This amounts to $23,757 and reflects the Province’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent by 2020. Funding is provided through the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program.
Communities that have signed the Climate Action Charter receive a conditional grant equal to 100 per cent of their carbon tax costs to support their climate change efforts.
The Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing program assists municipalities that directly pay police enforcement costs. The grants come from ticket fines and court-imposed fines on violation tickets, and the amount of money a municipality receives is based on its contribution to total municipal policing costs.
The Small Community and Regional District Grants are unconditional grants to local governments, to assist them to provide basic services. Grant amounts are based on a formula that factors in a base amount, population and assessment values. These grants generally apply to municipalities with populations up to 19,000.
In all, the Province is paying out $63.8 million in the first Strategic Community Investment Fund, and $30 million in net traffic fine revenues. A further $3.8 million was reimbursed to municipalities reimbursed for the carbon taxes they paid in 2010.
Learn more
• B.C. local governments: http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/
• Climate Action Charter: http://www.livesmartbc.ca/community/charter.html
• Local governments receiving funds through Small Community and Regional District Grants and traffic fine revenues:
http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/downloads/Backgrounder1.pdf
• Local governments receiving funds through the Climate Action Revenue Incentive program:
http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/downloads/BackgrounderClimateAction.pdf
