The City of Vancouver faces a potential budget deficit of more than $30 million next year, which would translate into a property tax increase of 6.3 per cent.
Preliminary budget numbers being presented to council Tuesday show expenditures are set at about $846 million. Revenues are budgeted at about $823 million — without any tax increase.
There's also another $7.1 million in funding requests, including the allocation of $5 million to a legacy fund to help cover some of the city's costs of hosting the 2010 Olympics.
The city plans to set aside $20 million for the Olympics over the next four years.
Management at city hall is also recommending the hiring of 127 additional city and police workers.
But the chair of the city's finance committee, Coun. Peter Ladner, said the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), which controls city council, hopes to keep property tax increases to around four per cent.
"We can't have taxes going up by 6.3 per cent. So we're going to have to find some cuts to make, and we'll have to make some difficult choices."
Ladner said it's too early to say what those choices might be, but he notes a new contract for municipal workers will put pressure on the budget.
Collective agreements expire at the end of the year for most of the city's unionized employees. Wages and benefits represent more than 60 per cent of the city's costs.
NPA accused of financial 'mismanagement'
Opposition Vision Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie accuses the NPA of spending money recklessly during its first year back in power.
"We've already increased taxes substantially. We're looking at another one. It's due to their mismanagement," he told CBC Radio.
"Taxes did not have to rise over the four per cent range that it did last year."
Louie said Vision Vancouver put forward a budget proposal last year that would have limited last year's tax increase to 3.7 per cent, without any cuts to civic services.
The preliminary estimates will be presented to council for debate on Oct. 31.
Related
Audio
-
The early Edition's Rick Cluff speaks with Vancouver Coun. Raymond Louie.
(Runs: 5:21)
play: real »
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
MORE BRITISH COLUMBIA HEADLINES »
- Lack of oxygen killed 4 at B.C. mine: report
- A waste dump leaching air with little oxygen in it killed four people at an old mine in B.C. last May, the province's chief mine inspector said Monday.
- B.C. man charged after hundreds of prohibited guns seized
- A Victoria man has been charged with dozens of weapons offences following the seizure earlier this year of more than 600 guns from his home in the capital city.
- Surrey woman stabbed to death
- The RCMP are investigating the death of a 23-year-old woman who was found by officers responding to a domestic violence complaint in Surrey on Sunday.
- Wind plays bumper ships on English Bay
- Three freighters anchored in Vancouver's English Bay collided in a chain-reaction accident on Sunday morning, as high winds whipped the area.
- Storm wallops northern B.C.
- Small communities across northern B.C. are struggling to get back to normal after a snowstorm blanketed the area Saturday, knocking out power to thousands.