The City of Kelowna wants no part of the province's proposed speculation tax.
That position was revisited on Monday, as council pondered the tone and the wording of a letter to the province.
Councillor Brad Sieben says he's offended by the government's decision not to consult on the changes.
He says he wasn't a big fan of staff's proposal that council ask for tax equity amongst the whole province.
"The one thing I don't support in language, is the notion of equalizing the tax throughout (the province). I fully get the spirit of it, that it may benefit Lake Country and the others, but I just don't fundamentally support the tax at all," he said. "It shouldn't be there at all - full stop. And it's unfair as it is."
The tax that would target property owners who live outside the province is being called an empty home tax by city planners, who say it doesn't do much to address house flipping.
Councillor Ryan Donn says it also messes with Kelowna's culture.
"It's our main form of taxation we get to do as a municipality, and now the province is jumping in and going 'actually, we're also going to do that,'" he said. "One idea I had was empowering municipalities to have the option, would be something more valid, because this is our area of taxation."
"There's an impact that changes a tone that we like to set as council, when we paint rainbow sidewalks we want to be welcoming and inclusive. And if we come here and you have to pay an extra tax, it's not as welcoming and inclusive as we need to be.
Mayor and council's plan is to share their thorough disapproval of the tax through letters to Premier John Horgan, Finance Minister Carole James, and Municipal Affairs Minister Selina Robinson.
Mayor Colin Basran agreed that they need to keep the letter as straightforward as possible, and pitched a two-part approach.
"I see us writing a letter initially, saying we don't like the speculation tax as proposed. We would like you to consider, as written in the UBCM housing report, a true flipping tax. And then we see what happens," he said.
"If the province says 'yeah, you're right,' then great. But if instead, the response is 'we're going to tweak the speculation tax instead,' then we know our fate. Then I think we send a second letter saying 'fine, then we have some suggestions in regards to how it can be better implemented."
Basran says he'll also include a formal request for a meeting with Premier John Horgan, which has also been happening behind the scenes.
As far as the speculation tax goes, it wasn't the only one under review by city staff.
The report also included analysis of the updated Foreign Buyers and Luxury taxes, which now apply on home sales in the region.
While the report concluded those two taxes won't have much of an impact locally, one councillor talked about being a foreign buyer.
Ryan Donn says he and his family emigrated from Scotland nearly 30 years ago.
"We moved here in 1991, and we were foreigners. And essentially when my family bought a home, if this tax was in place, we would have been charged 20%. My parents, in order to become landed immigrants, invested in a business - a substantial sum," he said.
"I don't know if that would have affected our becoming landed immigrants, and becoming Canadian, or changed our whole course - if it was 20% more on a home on Dougall Road. But it might have."
At Tuesday night's public hearing, council finalized its plans through a recommendation from staff.
With that, council will: