Taxes rising at unsustainable rate

Since moving into my home in Vancouver 20 years ago, my property taxes have gone up 300 per cent, vastly outstripping any increase in my income and capacity to pay. Over the past three years alone, we have seen annual increases of five per cent and are now told of an upcoming 2019 municipal budget demanding another 6.3 per cent increase, including utility fees. In addition, the NDP’s new school tax surcharge will add an average of 35 per cent to the property taxes of more than 20,000 British Columbians, before any of the increases extracted by local government.

Most citizens are OK with paying their fair share, but these outrageous, punitive and completely unsustainable demands for more and more money just cannot continue. There is no more money. We’ve had enough. Stop.

Stephen Wiseman, Vancouver