Property tax hike of 4.9% proposed by city
Groups make case for additional funds as council discusses 2019 draft budget
Vancouver’s new mayor and council, considering a proposed city operating budget of $1.5 billion and capital project budget of $371 million for 2019, heard from dozens of speakers Tuesday representing everyone from police to park rangers.
The 2019 draft budget includes a 4.9 per cent property tax increase and a combined 8.7 per cent increase in fees for water, sewer, and solid waste. For a median single-family home, that would mean a combined 6.3 per cent hike over 2018 levels.
About half the taxes and fees paid by a median single-family homeowner in Vancouver go to the city. The other half go to other levels of government, including provincial school taxes, the Metro Vancouver Regional District and TransLink.
That means the owner of a median Vancouver condo unit (assessed at $700,000) would pay roughly $887 in taxes to the city for 2019, according to estimates in the draft budget, an increase of $41 over 2018. A median single-family home in Vancouver (assessed at $1.83 million) would pay an estimated $2,322 in city taxes for 2019, a $108 increase over this past year.
As in previous years, business properties would see the biggest increase under the proposed budget, with estimated City of Vancouver taxes for a median business property (assessed at $855,300) estimated at $4,139 for 2019, increasing $193 over 2018.
Council heard presentations Tuesday from senior city staff, and from some of the 38 speakers who had signed up to address council on the budget, including local business improvement associations, activists, cultural organizations, members of the public, and representatives of the firefighters, police, outside workers and library unions.
Council was expected to continue hearing from speakers on the budget until late Tuesday night, and to meet next week for further deliberation and to vote on the budget.
Mayor Kennedy Stewart said Tuesday that he plans to support the budget.
“Nobody likes to pay new taxes, but for an average condo owner, this will mean about $3 a month (increase over 2018) that they’ll be paying,” Stewart told reporters in a break during council. “I’ll be supporting the budget, I’ve looked at it very carefully and sat through many briefings by staff … Although I’d like (the tax increase) to be zero, I think this is a prudent budget.”
A significant portion of the 4.9 per cent property tax increase for 2019 is attributed to B.C.’s new Employer Health Tax, introduced by the provincial government to replace the Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums which will be eliminated by 2020.
However, the budget notes, “while this is an increased cost to the City in 2019, the City can expect a marginal positive financial impact in 2020 upon the elimination of MSP premiums.”
For most of those around the council chambers, this represents their first crack at a city budget. While the mayor and eight of 10 councillors were only sworn in last month, the 491-page budget (plus 135 pages of reports, 76 pages of appendices, a 51-page presentation and 11 pages of memos) generated questions from even council’s most experienced member, Green Coun. Adriane Carr, who mentioned she had already sent 59 questions to city staff.
At one point in the meeting, while NPA Coun. Colleen Hardwick was asking questions of an arts organization’s representative, the councillor remarked: “Everyone who comes here is looking for more money. Everybody has justification, and as a councillor and somebody that is looking at this budget and trying to reconcile it, I’m trying to figure out how do we balance that in a way that isn’t going to increase the affordability problem that we already have.”
“Every group, whether it’s police and fire, or dealing with environmental sustainability and climate change, every group feels that it’s important,” Hardwick said. “As councillors, we’re just trying to figure out how to reconcile it.”