Vancouver City Council has approved the 2026 budget, which includes a 0% property tax increase and a number of spending cuts.Mayor Ken Sim was joined by fellow ABC Councillors Lisa Dominato, Sarah Kirby-Young, Mike Klassen, Peter Meiszner, Brian Montague and Lenny Zhou in supporting the plan, while Councillors Pete Fry, Green, Sean Orr, COPE, Lucy Maloney, OneCity, and Rebecca Bligh, Independent, were firmly opposed.The operating budget sits at $2.39 billion, thus with property taxes frozen, the city will have to find $120 million elsewhere.The mayor and his team argued that the goal would be achieved via massive spending cuts, though little information was provided regarding exactly where those cuts will be made.A leaked memo did reveal that the city wants to generate some of the extra cash by firing 400 city workers and reducing the budgets of various departments..Other departments, meanwhile, saw their budgets increased. Perhaps most notable were the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, which saw 6% and 10% raises, respectively.A number of amendments were proposed by councillors from all parties, however they were largely passed or defeated along party lines, with COPE, OneCity, Green, and Independent banding together to form a coalition. With an ABC-majority council, however, their attempts to, among other things, refer the budget back to staff were unsuccessful.Certain amendments passed unanimously, including one directing staff to promptly replace damaged baby change tables in public washrooms and another reallocating an additional $800,000 from the city's existing budget to "hold Community Centre recreation Admission & Passes, Lessons, Programs, in order to hold Community Centre recreation Admission & Passes, Lessons, Programs, and Permits fees at a 0% increase for 2026.".Prior to the final vote, councillors addressed their colleagues in support or opposition to the budget. Among those who spoke out vehemently against Sim's plan were Orr and Maloney, both of whom argued that it would only benefit Vancouver's most wealthy residents at the expense of the less fortunate.The budget was among the most contentious in recent memory. Over a series of special meetings, over hundreds of concerned residents signed up to tell council what they thought of the document created by Mayor Ken Sim's ruling ABC party — in addition to the thousands that already answered the city's budget survey.In 2024, just six people showed up to voice their opinions at a meeting that garnered less than 400 views on YouTube. This year, over 12,000 people tuned in online to the first special meeting alone..Most of the concern centred around a lack of detail, with many citing the fact that unlike most budgets, the document didn't provide a line-by-line breakdown of what would be cut as part of ABC's quest to get "back to basics."Many of those who took the time to comment were homeowners saying they would gladly accept a property tax increase if it meant all Vancouverites would benefit. At current rates, the average property tax rate in Vancouver is $4,153 per year, or $346 per month. Staff explained that a 1% jump, roughly $42, would generate roughly $12 million in revenue. Opposition members originally sought a 7% increase, which would come out to $290 per year.In his closing statements, Sim argued that raising property taxes would harm not only homeowners, but renters as well.More to come...
