March is shaping up to be an expensive month for taxpayers.
At the same time that city council will finalize how much of a tax hike is needed to meet this year’s operating budget, council will also likely ask residents to vote yes in a plebiscite to support a separate 0.5 per cent tax bump to pay for a 10-year transportation plan.
Which is just awesome, right?
I joke.
I point out this confluence of pending tax increases not to depress you, but to give you a heads-up on a motion that NPA Coun. George Affleck drafted and will introduce Jan. 20 at the first council meeting of the new year.
Affleck wants his NPA colleagues, the Vision Vancouver majority and Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr to get behind the yes side in the upcoming plebiscite, which is scheduled to begin in mid-March via a mail-in ballot. Council’s support would mean urging voters to say yes to a new 0.5 per cent “Metro Vancouver Congestion Improvement Tax.”
When you couple that 0.5 per cent — which would be added to the existing seven per cent provincial sales tax — with a pending property tax increase, the news from Captain Obvious is this: More money will leave your wallet.
How much money?
A city document on this year’s budget warns taxpayers could face a six to seven per cent tax hike. That’s, of course, if council doesn’t find ways to cut from the budget, which it always does.
But don’t expect council to cut to zero, with hikes over recent years ranging from 1.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent, increases that have been roughly in line with inflation. The city document also pointed out “the trend of costs growing faster than inflation is expected to continue over the next four years.”
So it’s a safe bet that taxes will go up.
Then factor in urging the public to support the 0.5 per cent hike to help pay for the transportation plan, along with the expected increase in Metro Vancouver charges for water and sewer fees, and you’ve got to think this is going to be a tough sell for politicians.
Affleck acknowledged this point in an interview Monday.
“Obviously this is a huge challenge and that’s why we have to get out in front of this and figure out how we’re going to do this,” said Affleck of a council campaign to sell the yes vote.
But what Affleck pointed out, as did Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs in a separate interview, is the plebiscite is a one-off vote and a 0.5 per cent hike will go a long way to upgrade transit and roads to alleviate congestion. The 0.5 per cent, by the way, represents about $50 to $125 per year per household, depending on how much a person spends.
“There’s always resistance to taxes unless it’s clear what the benefits are,” said Meggs, adding that he believes most people understand a 0.5 per cent tax hike will go directly to transportation needs. “There’s no free lunch here in terms of improved transit outcomes and reduced congestion without some investment.”
Some background: The provincial government said the plebiscite is necessary because the region’s mayors requested a new funding source — that would be the 0.5 per cent tax hike — to help pay for a $7.5 billion, 10-year transportation plan.
The plan calls for $1.9 billion to build a 5.1-kilometre subway line form the Vancouver Community College-Clark SkyTrain station to Arbutus Street. Other upgrades include new B-line buses, more frequent bus, SeaBus and HandyDart service, a light-rail project in Surrey and the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge, which joins New Westminster to Surrey.
Affleck wants city staff to come back with a plan — and the cost of it — for the city to back and promote the yes side. The voting period for the plebiscite runs between March 16 and May 29 and only open to Metro Vancouver voters.
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