A 5.5 per cent increase in municipal property taxes and an 18.2 per cent increase in utility fees that cover water, sewer and solid waste collection.
The City of Vancouver’s draft budget for 2025 proposes a 5.5 per cent increase in municipal property taxes and an 18.2 per cent increase in utility fees that cover water, sewer and solid waste collection.
The property tax increase consists of a 4.5 per cent boost for delivery of services and a one per cent increase to address the “historical deficit in funding for infrastructure renewal.”
The city estimates that for a median residential strata unit valued at $806,000, the total dollar value increase in property taxes from 2024 to 2025 will be $77. For a median overall residential unit valued at $1.4 million, the amount would be $130. For a median single-family home valued at $2.2 million, the amount would be $211. For a median business property valued at close to $1.3 million, it would be $403.
The proposed property tax increase is slightly lower than what it has been in recent years. In 2024, the budget included a 7.5 per cent increase to property taxes, and in 2023, the city brought in a 10.7 per cent increase.
The 18.2 per cent rise in combined utility fees consists of a 3.2 per cent increase for water and a 10.3 per cent boost for solid waste, as well as a 36.9 per cent increase for sewer.
The big jump in sewer fees was largely due to a levy from Metro Vancouver.
“Of note, sewer fees are subject to a substantial adjustment for 2024, driven primarily by a 50 per cent year-on-year increase in levies charged by Metro Vancouver, which allocates costs associated with the North Shore Wastewater Treatment facility.”
The utility fees also fold in adjustments for inflation to offset the increased operating costs to maintain current service levels.
The city estimates that for a median single-family home valued at $2.2 million, the increased utility fee amount for sewage in 2025 will be an additional $316. For a median business property valued at nearly $1.3 million, it will be an additional $323.
Metro Vancouver has been grappling since this past spring with explaining a $2.8-billion cost overrun at its North Shore wastewater treatment plant, and trying to reassure the region’s elected official its now $3.86-billion budget will be the final price. If duelling legal claims between Metro Vancouver and an engineering company head to court, the earliest start date would be in early 2027.
The issue of how municipalities should split the cost of shouldering this impact is complex, with Metro Vancouver’s sewage treatment services broken into several areas — the North Shore; Vancouver, including the area around the University of B.C.; parts of Burnaby and Richmond; Lulu, which is most of Richmond; and Fraser, which is most other Metro municipalities.
The City of Vancouver and other municipalities have been supportive of North Shore representatives looking at how this explosive cost increase can be allocated, while other municipalities such as Surrey, Burnaby and Richmond have said they also need to consider absorbing the cost of upcoming sewage treatment replacement projects in their own areas.
Vancouver city council will consider the draft budget on Dec. 10.
— with a file from Derrick Penner