Squamish council turns down 10-year Woodfibre LNG tax arrangement
The deal would have guaranteed the District at least $142 million over a decade. Council said no on September 22, so the LNG plant will be taxed under the regular property-tax system.
District of Squamish council voted on September 22 to decline a proposed 10-year financial arrangement with Woodfibre LNG, the export plant under construction on the former Woodfibre pulp mill site on Howe Sound. The decision came at a special business meeting, according to the District’s project page.
The Squamish Reporter reported the vote as 5–2, with Mayor Armand Hurford and councillors Jenna Stoner, Lauren Greenlaw, Andrew Hamilton and Chris Pettingill in favour of rejecting it, and councillors Eric Andersen and John French opposed.
What was on the table
The arrangement had two parts that had to pass together, according to the District:
- A Community Enhancement Payment Agreement: $117 million in scheduled payments from 2027 to 2036, front-loaded at $16 million a year in 2028 to 2030 and tapering to $8 million by 2034. The money could only be spent on capital projects.
- A Revitalization Tax Exemption bylaw under section 226 of the Community Charter, which would have exempted Woodfibre’s lands from municipal property tax above $2.5 million a year, adjusted for inflation after 2027, for 10 years.
The District says it would have collected at least $25 million in municipal property tax over the term, on top of the payments. Woodfibre LNG puts the combined total at a minimum of $142 million.
The meeting agenda gave council two options: give the tax-exemption bylaw three readings, or decline the whole arrangement. Council chose the second. Timing mattered: the District notes that an exemption for the 2027 tax year has to be in place before October 31, and the new council is not sworn in until November.
What happens now
The District says it will tax the Woodfibre properties the usual way: based on BC Assessment’s annual valuation and the tax rate council sets each year. Per the Reporter, Hurford said the vote does not prevent a future council from negotiating a different agreement.
On October 9, Woodfibre LNG chief executive Luke Schauerte published an open letter calling the decision “surprising and disappointing” and describing the deal as the company’s “fair and final offer.” The letter says the company will look to work with the council elected on October 17.
Construction continues. On September 23 the company reported that FortisBC had broken through on the nine-kilometre gas pipeline tunnel between Squamish and the plant site, running beneath the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary.
Sources
- District of Squamish: Council declined the arrangement Sept. 22; CEPA schedule, RTE terms, post-decision taxation, Oct. 31 deadline
- District of Squamish (CivicWeb): Special Business Meeting agenda, Sept. 22, 2026: the two motions
- The Squamish Reporter: 5–2 vote and how each member voted; Hurford comment on future councils
- Woodfibre LNG: Open letter: $142 million minimum, quoted phrases
- Woodfibre LNG: Pipeline tunnel breakthrough
