Summerland Mayor Presents Agricultural Funding Proposal to Coldstream Council

June 23 2026  - Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes presented his proposal for a new provincial funding program to Coldstream Council on June 22, 2026.

Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes

Holmes and the Summerland Council are the main drivers behind the Agricultural Municipality Initiative (AMI).

They drafted the proposal, submitted it to the province, and are actively presenting it to the other 11 municipalities involved.

The AMI would mirror British Columbia’s successful Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI), which provides roughly $10–13 million annually to 14 tourism-heavy communities to help offset infrastructure costs.

“The challenges facing small resort towns, where high visitor demand places a strain on infrastructure beyond what their local tax bases can support, are similar to the challenges facing small agricultural towns like Summerland,” said Mayor Holmes.

In ALR-heavy communities such as Summerland and Coldstream, protected farmland receives significant tax breaks.

As Mayor Holmes has publicly stated, for every $1 collected in property taxes from ALR land, it costs the municipality $3 to service it (roads, drainage, snow removal, and other rural infrastructure).These tax shortfalls are typically covered by higher taxes on the smaller residential base.

While tourism communities benefit from visitor spending, ALR communities provide important food security for the province with very little direct municipal revenue in return.

A 2005 provincial study of Pitt Meadows and Abbotsford found agricultural areas were roughly break-even. However, in municipalities where ALR makes up a much larger share of the land base, the net cost to local taxpayers is significantly higher.

Holmes acknowledged the idea may be a hard sell given current provincial budget pressures, but he hopes even modest initial grants could get the program started and build long-term support.

The Agricultural Municipality Initiative remains in the advocacy stage and has been submitted as part of the 2027 provincial budget consultations.Source for Mayor Holmes’ quote:

Read a statement by Mayor Holmes HERE - https://www.summerland.ca/docs/default-source/your-city-hall/council/council's-corner/2026/2026_01_13_column_agricultural-municipalities.pdf

Summerland Mayor Presents Agricultural Funding Proposal to Coldstream Council