VANCOUVER – A new report released on Tuesday shows municipal spending varies greatly across Metro Vancouver.
The study, released by the Fraser Institute, compares government finances in 17 municipalities.
“Municipal governments across the region provide important public services, but their tax and spending policies tend not to receive a whole lot of scrutiny. Our report helps taxpayers and voters better understand the state of their municipality’s finances and how they compare to other municipalities,” says Charles Lammam in a press release, the Fraser Institute’s associate director of tax and fiscal policy and co-author of Comparing Municipal Government Finances in Metro Vancouver.
The study looks at categories such as fiscal policy from 2002 to 2012, which is the latest year of available data.
It shows West Vancouver was the highest spender in 2012 at $2,118 per person, followed by New Westminster at $1,837 per person and Vancouver at $1,689 per person. Surrey came in last at $951 per person, which is below the regional average of $1,384 per person.
Vancouver is the most populated municipality in Metro Vancouver but local government spends 78 per cent more per person than Surrey, which is the region’s second-most populated municipality.
The study also looks at government revenue, including property taxes and other fees. Once again West Vancouver came out on top with $2,548 in revenue per person in 2012. New Westminster came in second with $2,424 and Vancouver was again third with $2,167. Surrey collected the least amount of revenue per person with $1,451, which is below the regional average of $1,916.
When it comes to property taxes, it appears some municipalities rely more heavily on businesses over residents. Burnaby draws 52 per cent of its property tax revenue from businesses while West Vancouver draws only 7.9 per cent.
“By relying too heavily on businesses for property tax revenue or maintaining uncompetitive tax rates, municipalities risk scaring off entrepreneurs and business people who consider property taxes when making decisions about whether to continue operations, whether to expand, or whether to start a business in the first place,” Lammam says.
“It’s ultimately up to Metro Vancouver residents to decide if they’re getting good value for their municipal tax dollars, but they need comparable information with other municipalities to help make that call.”
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