Service Delivery and Core Business Areas

The ministry depends on the contributions and support of a wide range of partners, including the business community, industry, local governments and federal government agencies to deliver its mandate. The ministry's core business areas each work with various partners to deliver their specific programs and services. Building and maintaining effective relationships and partnerships is a key strategic focus for the ministry.

The ministry delivers its programs and services through a variety of delivery channels, including ministry staff, other ministries, BC Assessment, Property Assessment Appeal Board, Property Assessment Review Panels, Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Border Service Agency, Small Business BC and a private sector service provider (EDS Advanced Solutions Inc.).

The ministry ensures service quality and client-centred service are maintained through formal mechanisms such as legislation, performance and service agreements (for example, ministry Service Plans, contribution agreements, work plans) and year-end reviews. Refer to Appendix C for more information on Service Delivery and Appendix D for the legislation administered by the ministry.

Core Business Areas Overview

The ministry relies on five core business areas to deliver its programs and services, and achieve its goals and objectives. The ministry's organizational structure supports the delivery of the programs, services and key initiatives of each core business area. Appendix E provides an overview of the ministry's organizational structure and primary responsibilities.

In 2005/06, total ministry gross expenditures totaled $138.96 million. Of this amount, $95.30 million was recovered from external and internal sources. Net expenditures totaled $43.66 million. Refer to Resource Summary (page 64).

Small Business and Regulatory Reform

Small Business and Regulatory Reform is responsible for leadership and cross government coordination of initiatives to strengthen small business growth and advance regulatory reform. This business area supports the permanent Small Business Roundtable.¹² The roundtable provides a forum for ongoing dialogue with the small business community across British Columbia, and provides ongoing advice to government and the small business sector on issues, strategies and potential actions to support British Columbia in becoming the most business friendly jurisdiction in Canada.

This business area works with partners and stakeholders from all levels of government and the private sector to develop proposals and implement solutions to address impediments to small business success, and provide services, products and tools to support small business start-up and growth.

Small Business and Regulatory Reform is also responsible for developing and implementing the Province's regulatory reform strategy. Business area responsibilities include providing advice and expertise to ministries to support the successful implementation of regulatory reform initiatives, maintaining the regulatory count database and producing quarterly public reports on cross government regulatory requirements. This business area represents British Columbia's interests on federal, provincial and territorial committees and working groups, and internationally on regulatory reform initiatives with organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

This business area works with other ministries, other levels of government and the business community to implement its services and programs.

12	For more information on the permanent Small Business Roundtable, view online at http://www.smallbusinessroundtable.ca.

Revenue Programs

Revenue Programs is responsible for administration, compliance and enforcement activities for taxes,¹³ fees and natural resource royalties for the Province. This includes audit assessments, tax refunds, and the administration of tax credit and benefit programs. Natural resource revenue administration includes the collection of royalties, freehold production taxes and resource management fees levied on the production of minerals, oil and gas. This business area promotes voluntary compliance with tax obligations, ensuring amounts owed to government are received through quality customer service, education and compliance programs.

In addition, Revenue Programs, acting on behalf of the ministry, represents British Columbia in its relationship with the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Border Services Agency with respect to the taxation statutes these agencies administer for the Province. This ensures revenues due to the Province are identified and received in a timely manner. Strong links are maintained with the municipalities and other government organizations collecting taxes on behalf of the Province, and with local governments and service areas on whose behalf the ministry collects taxes.

Provincial taxpayers — individuals, the business community and industry — are the primary customers and stakeholders served by Revenue Programs.

13	Taxes include: consumption taxes (social service tax, hotel room tax, motor fuel tax and tobacco tax), property taxes (rural property tax, school tax and property transfer tax) and other taxes (corporation capital tax, insurance premium tax and logging tax).

Revenue Services

1	Business area expenditures include payment to the ministry's private sector service delivery provider for revenue management services including the sharing of financial benefits realized by improving the collection of accounts receivable and reducing the related bad debt expense.

Revenue Services provides selected revenue management services¹⁴ for the ministry, its client ministries and their customers. Services available include account management, billing, payment and remittance processing, debt collection and other revenue management services provided through a combination of ministry staff and a private sector service provider. Revenue Services manages the ministry's agreement with EDS Advanced Solutions Inc. ensuring oversight and facilitating the success of the agreement on behalf of the ministry.

This business area also manages and collects revenues resulting from invoices the Ministry of Forests and Range issues to its forest industry clients, and manages trust security deposits for tenure agreements.

Provincial taxpayers and client ministries are the primary customers and stakeholders of Revenue Services.

14	Revenue Services provides selected revenue management services for: Medical Services Plan; BC Ambulance Service; British Columbia Student Assistance Program; Employment and Assistance Program; Court Fines; Mineral, Oil and Gas revenues; Subsidized Bus Pass Program; Commercial loans; and tax programs that the ministry oversees for the Province.

Property Assessment Services

2	Costs are fully recovered from BC Assessment, other organizations through agreements and appellants to the board.

Property Assessment Services provides advice on strategic property assessment policy, participates in inter-ministry and inter-agency processes related to property assessment and taxation, and reviews and develops legislative and regulatory changes and amendments related to property assessment.

In addition, this business area administers the annual Property Assessment Review Panel program¹⁵ across the province and supports the management of the Property Assessment Appeal Board.¹⁶ These review bodies ensure property assessments are accurate, reflect actual value, and criteria are applied consistently within a municipality or rural area. They work with BC Assessment, local taxation authorities and property owners to resolve disputes.

Property owners (individuals, businesses and industry) and municipalities are the primary customers of BC Assessment. The primary customers and stakeholders served by Property Assessment Services include BC Assessment, and the Ministries of Finance and Community Services.

15	The Property Assessment Review Panel program involves the annual appointment of approximately 275 panel members sitting on 80 panels throughout the province. The panels provide property owners in British Columbia with a first level of appeal through an accessible, affordable and equitable forum. For more information, view online at http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/clrg/parp/.
16	The Property Assessment Appeal Board is independent from the Property Assessment Review Panels, government and BC Assessment. The Board's objectives are to resolve appeals justly and consistently, in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness and natural justice, and to complete appeals as quickly as possible, at minimum cost to all parties. For more information, view online at http://www.assessmentappeal.bc.ca/.

Executive and Support Services

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Expenditures include those paid on behalf of the entire ministry, such as building occupancy charges, amortization costs, office supplies and expenses, and shared services costs related to the provision of information technology services, legal services, human resources and payroll management, and the corporate accounting system.

Executive and Support Services provides strategic leadership and corporate services to assist the ministry in achieving its goals and objectives.

This business area includes the Minister's and Deputy Minister's offices, and key programs and services provided across the ministry, including financial management and human resource services, strategic planning, performance reporting, information technology management, internal communication, and legislative and policy support. Executive and Support Services also administers investigative operations directed towards enforcement of provincial taxation statutes. Key services to the public include responding to customer inquiries on tax, revenue and benefit programs administered by the ministry, providing taxpayer information and education, and conducting tax appeals reviews.

Taxpayers, legislators, other ministries and Ministry of Small Business and Revenue employees are the primary customers and stakeholders served by this business area.