The government has promised to drop the harmonized sales tax by March 31, 2013.
Following Friday's results of the province-wide mailin referendum on the controversial tax, the province announced when the old PST and GST will return with the exemptions that had existed prior to the HST.
Elections BC last week announced the results of the referendum, which found a majority of voters chose to go back separate provincial and federal sales taxes. About 1.6 million voters - 52 per cent of registered B.C. voters - participated in the vote.
54.73 per cent in B.C. voted to scrap the HST with 45.27 per cent voting to keep it in place.
In Delta South it was a different story with 46.46 per cent voting in favour of extinguishing the tax and 53.54 per cent voting to keep it. In Delta North, though, 58.44 per cent voted to scrap the tax and 41.56 per cent voted against.
Introduced by the Liberal government following the 2009 provincial election and enacted in July of last year, the 12 per cent HST, which the government promised to lower, applied to many goods and services which were previously exempt from PST.
Aimed at simplifying the tax structure, the HST did have supporters in South Delta including the Delta Farmers' Institute.
The HST also proved to be a good deal for some including the Corporation of Delta. Last year, for example, council approved the purchase of a new fire truck, a purchase that had been held off until after the July 1, 2010 start date of the new tax, because the municipality got an HST rebate.
Previously, the municipality wouldn't receive a PST rebate for such purchases. Mayor Lois Jackson at the time said Delta got "a bigger bang for its buck."
Some of the items that are now subject to the 12 per cent HST that will become cheaper, as they will be exempt from the seven per cent PST, include new homes over $525,000. A year ago Delta council agreed to an application by businessman Ron Toigo to amend his Tsawwassen Springs housing development due the HST.
Toigo had asked to split up many of the residential condo units into smaller units that would be less expensive and under the HST threshold.
The return to the PST creates significant pressure on the government budget, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said.
Premier Christy Clark, who last week met with businesses and community leaders in Delta, said the government has been working on a "Plan B" in the event the tax was rejected.
Calling the referendum results historic, Fight HST leader and former premier Bill Vander Zalm said the people have sent a message that politicians must consult with the people on issues as big as the HST.
Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington hopes the government will act in an open and consultative manner now that the province must adjust to life without the harmonized sales tax.
Nic Slater, recently acclaimed as the NDP candidate for Delta South, said the referendum results aren't surprising.
Conservative leader John Cummins, the former MP for Delta-Richmond East, said the vote was a rejection of the manner in which the government conducted the people's business.
sgyarmati@delta-optimist.com
