A City of Vancouver staff report says a seven per cent increase in property tax is needed for 2025 to finance running the city.
At Wednesday night’s council meeting, councillors debated the potential property tax rate with some of them being for the seven per cent and some being for a more affordable 5.5 per cent.
Councillors also debated a possible cap on property tax increases starting with next year, as a way to make the city more affordable.
In the staff report presented to council, it states, the seven per cent property tax is an annual figure needed to balance the budget every year.
That increase could be an additional $98 a year for a median strata property.
The council-majority ABC Party councillors felt that increase is too high despite and other councillors said the potential cap could leave city initiatives without funding.
“This is an opportunity for us to really take some leadership on this particular file and continue to do the tough work that we do every single day to make sure we can run this city without making it completely unaffordable,” councillor Rebecca Bligh said at the council meeting.
“Give me the information. Give me the different scenarios. I can’t tell you right now 5.5 per cent … what that means, what the impact might mean of going to 5.5 per cent when our staff have said they want to see seven per cent,” Vancouver councillor Adriane Carr said.
Council approved a 7.5 per cent increase for property taxes for 2024. City staff have been asked by council to crunch some additional number before reporting back to council at a future meeting.
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