Hey Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»taxpayers, do you want another property tax hike?
The answer is probably a big fat no, although previous City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»budget consultations have shown some people don’t mind paying a bit more in taxes for services.
What types of services and how much of a tax increase are debatable.
This week, the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»issued a news release to remind Vancouverites to have their say on the 2025 budget, which goes before council in December for debate and a final vote on a tax hike.
The outlines the main factors influencing the city’s financial outlook, including measures on how to balance the budget while maintaining existing service levels.
The report also includes recommendations for additional revenue streams to ease the proposed property tax increase.
Simplified Chinese, Punjabi
Ways to get involved:
• Visit to learn more and complete the survey by Sept.16. The survey is available in English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Punjabi.
• when city council reviews the draft budget in December. Registration details will be available closer to the meeting date.
• directly to provide feedback on the draft budget.
In May, Mayor Ken Sim successfully moved an amendment to request the property tax increase for 2025 be no higher than 5.5 per cent — almost two per cent less than the 7.28 per cent increase this year and less than half of the 10.7 per cent hike in 2023.
“The role of mayor and council is to provide a vision, and it's important to first give our [staff] team clarity as to the direction [we’re going],” Sim said during debate in the council chamber.
“But [a cap on a tax increase] also sends a signal to all the current and future residents and businesses and people that are thinking of setting up businesses in the City of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»— and without that clarity, I think we just get lost in the wilderness.”
The mayor’s move came despite a staff presentation and accompanying five-year budget outlook report that said the likely tax increase to support existing services is closer to seven per cent each year between 2025 and 2029.
Seven per cent
Colin Knight, the city’s director of finance, told council the city is facing mounting financial pressures related to collective agreements, a $500-million infrastructure deficit, inflation and costs downloaded by senior governments.
“So based on that, if we look at current estimates — and without taking into account further actions that staff will look at to reduce expenditures and increase revenues — we will be looking at an average property tax increase of approximately seven per cent going into next year's budget,” Knight said.
As staff has done in previous budget cycles, the draft budget to council later in the year will include various scenarios of what a 5.5 per cent or seven per cent tax hike would mean to city services.
City manager Paul Mochrie described the past two years as “extraordinary,” in terms of the costs the city has absorbed, including infrastructure renewal demands.
“What we've heard from council is that those impacts in terms of tax increases are not sustainable,” Mochrie said. “So we understand that direction.”
