Vancouver proposes 2020 budget with 8.2 per cent property tax increase
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 02:37:53 +0000
Vancouver homeowners will be hit by an 8.2 per cent property tax hike next year if city council approves its $1.6 billion 2020 draft budget.
The tax increase, which would be the city’s biggest in more than a decade, would amount to an additional $211 on a median residential home assessed at $1.755 million and an additional $270 on a median business property assessed at $976,000.
Along with an 8.2 per cent property tax increase, the 2020 draft budget also includes a combined 9.4 per cent increase in service fees for water, sewer and solid waste. For a median single-family home that would mean a combined 9.3 per cent hike over 2019 levels.
According to city data, a median single-family home would pay $4,163 in combined taxes and fees in 2020, an increase of $354 over 2019. The average business will spend $5,682 in combined taxes and fees, a jump of $406 from 2019.
Property taxes are tied to assessed property value, which is set by B.C. Assessment.
The city says a little more than half (52 per cent) of the property taxes collected go toward funding city services, while the rest is directed toward funding provincial school taxes (27 per cent), Metro Vancouver regional services (14 per cent) and TransLink (six per cent).
The overall operating budget will grow 7.3 per cent next year — from $1.5 billion to $1.62 billion. The city says nearly half, $53.6 million, of the budget increase will go toward paying fixed costs related to maintaining existing services at current levels.
An additional $40 million will be spent on “new investments required to add resources to fill gaps in service delivery and to address risks,” which includes $8.2 million to maintain and improve public safety with the hiring of 25 police officers and 30 firefighting staff.
City of Vancouver 2020 Draft Budget priorities
A total of $23.8 million is earmarked for “council priorities,” which include $4.1 million to address the affordability and housing crisis, $6.8 million to accelerate action on climate change and $2.5 million to improve street-cleaning services.
The draft budget will be considered at a special meeting of council Dec. 3. Members of the public who wish to speak at the meeting can sign up online.
The city is offering an online, interactive session for the public on Nov. 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., during which highlights of the draft budget will be presented and city staff will answer questions submitted live online.