The chair of the city’s finance committee says it may be time to review the bylaw around how the community forest dividend can be used.
The 2016 dividend was recently announced, with the city receiving $1.9 million from the community forest.
Russell Brewer says when the bylaw was originally set up, it was drafted so that the funds could not be used for city operations or regular capital expenditures, but are instead used for special projects which would not go ahead without the funding.
He says some have been asking why the monies couldn’t be used to help reduce the tax burden for residents.
Brewer notes the bylaw will be 10 years old next year, which is a good rule of thumb to review bylaws to ensure they are still meeting the needs of the community.
He says he expects that discussion to begin within the next year.
