Eight budgets: the second four raised taxes twice as fast as the first

Mayor Mike Little has chaired the District of North Vancouver’s council for all eight budgets since the 2018 election. The District’s own financial plans show what those budgets did to the property tax.

The record

• 2019 to 2022: increases of 3%, 2%, 3% and 3%, an average of 2.75% a year
• 2023 to 2026: increases of 5.25%, 7%, 5.5% and 3.53%, an average of 5.32% a year

Compounded, the first four budgets added 11.5% to the municipal tax and the second four added 23.0%: twice as fast. The 2020 increase was set at 3% and cut to 2% for COVID-19; counted at 3%, the second term is still 77% higher.

What 3.53% cost

The District’s 2026–2030 plan says keeping services as they were would have needed a 7.5% increase. Council approved 3.53% and closed the gap with about $5 million of operating reductions. The year before, the plan’s starting point was 9% and council approved 5.5%.

The same plan says, on page 27: “Reductions in service are expected every year of this five-year plan.” It does not say which services. Staff are to bring council that information later in 2026. Residents should see it before they vote on October 17.

The bill that rose faster

Water, sewer and garbage charges rose faster than property tax in all eight budgets: 59% against 37%. A single-family home paid $1,920 for them in 2022 and $2,571 in 2026. Much of that is Metro Vancouver’s charges, including the North Shore treatment plant, and the District is drawing $16.8 million from its reserves to soften the increases until 2029. Reserves spent now are not there later.

Infrastructure

The 1% of each increase that normally goes to replacing roads, pipes and buildings was suspended in 2023 and rebuilt to 1.5% by 2026. The District now puts the replacement value of what it owns at $4.6 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2020.

What this does not show

The District’s taxes are not the region’s highest, and neither are its increases: Vancouver, New Westminster and Surrey raised more over this term. Much of the pressure, from Metro Vancouver’s charges to policing, collective agreements and construction costs, is outside council’s control. The full record sets out both, with a comparison against seven other councils.

What I would do

Review every service line by line before the next tax increase. Explain every increase in plain language before it is approved, including the infrastructure deficit. List the utility fees beside the tax rate in every budget, and require a public explanation whenever a fee rises faster than the tax rate. I am not promising a tax freeze: essential services come first, and savings come from waste, duplication and delay, not from roads or fire.

Accuracy note: the percentages are the increases council approved for the average property in each class, from the District’s financial plans and its 2020 Annual Report; 2026 figures are budget figures, not year-end results. Compounded figures multiply the yearly increases together. Every figure, with the PDF page it comes from, is on the tax record.