Most municipalities will likely see higher-than-usual property tax increases this year “just essentially to hold the line,” said Stewart Prest, a professor of political science at Quest University in Squamish.Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion delivered straight to your inbox at 7 a.m., Monday to Friday.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
The budget would be supported by a property tax hike of 9.7 per cent. Vancouver’s property tax increase was 6.35 per cent last year, and the average increase over the past decade has been around 3.9 per cent.
Despite the budget’s record size, Vancouver staff have already implemented “a range of financial restraints and measures to offset the ongoing impact of the pandemic and recent global economic volatility,” the staff report says. The city has held staffing vacancies, reduced external lease costs, and deferred discretionary expenses and capital projects.Meanwhile, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke has said her city could face an even higher increase than Vancouver, a 17.5 per cent tax increase in 2023.
B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said that information came in last week and it is expected to take provincial officials a few weeks to analyze it. “Businesses will also continue to pay a disproportionate share of the costs of these increases compared to the services they utilize,” Anderson said.Article content
Wonder how many renters will cry at rent increases and blame homeowners. 🤣🤣🤣
HAHAHA see what happens when the coward police do nothing to combat RE money laundering by criminal gimeegrants?