To address this challenge we can increase the supply of affordable units by promoting density and in-fill, through planning moves such as pre-zoning areas for greater lot coverage and height along transit supportive corridors. We should ask the province to expand the foreign buyers tax to Kamloops, as a TRU study indicated not having it is creating a 15% premium in prices against jurisdictions with the tax.

We can lower the cost of services, and consequently property taxes, by better containing urban sprawl development on the outskirts of town. We can lower utility costs by embracing progress on the BC Energy Step Code and use of nature based climate solutions like planting more trees to mitigate urban heat effects. Both property taxes and utility costs are to some extent passed on to renters.

We can also make affordability a requirement to qualify for a revitalization tax exemption credit, instead of the current practice of handing them out to developers without accountability.

Leadership on Council matters, to support the implementation of these moves and set the overall policy direction, so electing myself and like minded people on October 15th is another way we can make progress on this issue.