This week at City Council we started off the 2025 budget directions with a proposed municipal tax increase cap of 2.9%. This proposed 2.9% cap raises concerns about the City’s ability to adequately fund essential services given rising costs over the years for most purchases. As I have stated previously, municipal taxes are a regressive policy, and while a reform of municipal taxes in conjunction with our provincial and federal partners, would be welcome, in our current situation, limiting tax increases may provide short-term relief to residents, but it can put a strain on critical services like transit, public health, bylaw enforcement, the number of lifeguards available at beaches, building new public bathrooms, and even keeping up with road repairs.
Municipal services rely on sufficient funding to meet growing demands. Without proper funding we feel the impacts on our management of assets, where we are already facing a $3.8 billion deficit in maintenance and replacement of recreational and other buildings which translates to lacking money to maintain community hubs, such as the Belltown Dome. We are told by city staff that we cannot afford to make repairs, but we also have no guarantee to build a new structure in the future.
The suggested budget directions risks continuing to undermine the City’s ability to provide robust services and infrastructure improvements that are necessary for long-term sustainability of our City and our communities.
Relying heavily on cost-cutting, rather than addressing structural budget shortfalls, can lead to service deterioration, particularly in areas like transit and housing.
Much of the discussion at council centered around transit and transit reliability. I hear from residents on a regular basis who ask for reliable and frequent transit service. Not just for commuting into work, but for their daily activities, to get the doctor’s appointments or pick up groceries. Bay Ward has had its share of bus service woes that have frustrated riders, but we also have seven new LRT stations being completed that will be important to residents in the future. Until Stage 2 is operational, the transit system needs proper funding now to ensure it is reliable for everyone using it.
I appreciate the conversations Mayor Sutcliffe is having with other levels of government to get more transfers to our city but the uncertainty around federal and provincial funding for transit, coupled with potential fare increases of up to 75%, could disproportionately affect those who can least afford it and depend on transit.
Additionally, the transit funding strategy proposed in the budget directions is troubling. The broad range of possible transit fare increases and levy adjustments—from modest to significant—suggests a lack of clear direction or commitment to maintaining an affordable and equitable transit system and serve to reduce ridership.
This is why I supported Councillor Devine’s motion to amend Councillor Gower’s original proposal, which called for further data on service levels. Councillor Devine’s amendment aimed to restore weekday off-peak LRT frequency to five minutes, bringing service back to pre-August reductions. This would have provided a strong baseline for analyzing ridership patterns, especially with students returning to school and more workers commuting to the office three or four days a week.
When Councillor Devine’s amendment was defeated, I voted against Councillor Gower’s motion. It was unnecessary, as staff had already confirmed they are monitoring ridership levels regardless of the motion’s outcome, making the request for additional data redundant.
Service reductions and capital deferrals that we are looking at in the 2025 budget will only work to further erode public confidence in transit, at a time when the city should be encouraging increased ridership and supporting climate action goals. The approach appears reactive rather than strategic, potentially creating long-term financial instability in transit services and increasing the burden on riders without ensuring corresponding service improvements. We are the verge of integrating new transit lines across the city. We need to keep a level of confidence in quality service with our current ridership as we continue to grow as a city.
