Property taxes in Saanich are set to increase by 6.67 per cent this year after council voted Monday night to approve a budget and financial measures that accommodate new spending on transportation initiatives and new personnel.
The council was split on the budget, with four councillors — Susan Brice, Judy Brownoff, Nathalie Chambers and Karen Harper — all voting against it and the increased cost to Saanich taxpayers.
This year, the 6.67 per cent tax increase will mean the average property owner will face a $199.65 increase in their property taxes.
That is based on tax rates — expressed in dollars per thousand dollars of assessed value — being set at 2.71 for residential property owners, 6.92 for industrial properties and 13 for business owners.
Last year, the rates were 3.13 for residential, 7.12 for industrial and 13.26 for business.
Brice said she was disappointed, noting that she has, in the past, looked for budget measures that can be broadly supported across council.
She said she couldn’t support this one given that it went back on an agreed-upon plan to limit budget increases this year to between 5.5 and six per cent.
“We determined that such an increase would be reasonable, given the financial circumstances our taxpayers are facing due to outside impacts relating to the cost of living,” Brice said. She said the original plan had allowed funding to meet short-term solutions to advance active transportation and bring in critical new personnel.
“However, council subsequently passed a motion to add a combination of 14 new positions or increased hours per position, resulting in an additional 0.6 per cent to the bottom line,” she said. “We not only increase this year’s budget over an acceptable limit, but we will also foreclose options in next year’s budget.”
Harper said she could not support the budget given the increased costs to residents.
She noted that over the past 22 years, the district has increased taxes by 90 per cent while the cost of living has increased by about 40 per cent.
“This is part of the problem that we’re talking about — the sustainability on a go-forward basis,” she said, noting people’s salaries are not increasing at a rate that will keep pace with that level of tax increase.
“I believe we want a Saanich that is sustainable and affordable for owners, for renters, for everyone. So we need to find a better way of doing that.”
Mayor Fred Haynes supported the budget, saying it was about finding a balance.
He said the entire council wants more affordable housing, an active transportation plan, traffic calming and a robust climate change plan, but in order to pay for some initiatives they need more revenue.
“No one likes to pay more taxes, but I believe this one is an appropriate tax lift and it has my whole support,” he said.
Coun. Ned Taylor agreed, noting the council and community have a number of priorities.
“And we simply can’t advance these priorities without increased spending and increased resourcing,” he said.
“The community has told us, for example, they want improvements to road safety and they want them now, not in 30 years. And I, for one, don’t want to wait until more people die on our roads before we start to increase taxes to address these infrastructure gaps within our community.
“These kinds of improvements are expensive, but they are necessary and I believe the community is prepared to pay for them.”
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