White Rock council has asked staff to crunch the 2025 operating budget to bring it down to a less than five per cent property tax increase in the new year.
The decision came at the Dec. 9 council meeting, after councillors received a report from financial services director Candice Gartry that painted a slightly rosier budget picture than anticipated for 2025.
Gartry told council that the adjusted average property tax increase for 2025 had been reduced from an anticipated 7.51 per cent increase, in the 2024 to 2028 Financial Plan, to a 5.23 per cent increase in preliminary calculations.
A draft 2025 to 2029 Financial Plan is being prepared for presentation to council on Jan. 13, and the intention is to share the document on the city's Talk White Rock online platform as early as Jan. 8.
The estimated reduction was due primarily to higher anticipated investment (interest) income and the deferral of some staff positions to the 2027 operating year, Gartry said.
She warned that, in the longer term, declining interest rates will ultimately impact the city's investment income, while deferring the staff positions will simply shift the associated tax increases to the 2027 year.
But budget increases of some $330,000, which included warming shelter operation and security costs for the 2024-25 winter season, are classed as one-time costs which will be funded from the anticipated 2024 operating surplus, and will have no impact on property taxes, Gartry said.
Even taking into account a full-time position to manage privacy assessments and requests for footage associated with the new CCTV project, the estimated property tax increase would be no more than 5.5 per cent, she added.
Rather than going line by line through budget items, council decided to ask staff to look at possible strategies or cuts that could bring the increase below the five per cent level by the time of the January presentation.
"I know Vancouver's coming in at 5.5 – I thought we could do better than Vancouver," Mayor Megan Knight laughed.
While Gartry said staff was looking for some direction on specific items, chief administrative officer Guillermo Ferrero suggested that council give staff a projected maximum increase.
"Perhaps you can give us a number that you feel comfortable with, and we can come back with some recommendations. ... We can come back in January and give you a report of what the implications would be," he said.
"Let's get under the five mark, see where you can cut, what you can do and then come back to us," Knight said.
"I think (this level) is very good in this climate."
Council unanimously carried a motion from Coun. Elaine Cheung that received the corporate report and directed staff to come back to council with a budget that is below a five per cent increase.
