Over $2 million has been shaved from Langford’s proposed budget for 2025, in response to “uncertain economic times,” says Coun. Keith Yacucha
The savings have lowered the proposed property tax hike from its starting point of 14.51 per cent, down to 9.77 per cent.
After two years of double-digit tax hikes – 15.63 per cent in 2024 and 12.41 per cent in 2023 – to "recuperate" the city’s finances following a number of low tax increases in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yacucha says it is time to “decrease the acceleration.”
“Given the uncertain economic times, it didn't seem right to push forward with this kind of budget,” he said in reference to the rising cost of living and the impact of the Canada-U.S. trade war. “We can't continue at this rate of double digit increases, even if we are making up for lost ground."
To achieve a single-digit tax increase, Yacucha says "hard decisions" had to be made, with all departments encouraged to “scale back” their ambitions for the year ahead and “do with less.”
"It does mean we're not expanding service levels," he says. "We're not doing necessarily what we wanted to with our strategic plan, some things are going to have to be delayed as a result of this."
One change to the proposed budget, which has ruffled some feathers in the community, is reducing the number of RCMP officers to be hired this year from five to four.
But Yacucha says it’s still positive news for the police force.
“It's still an increased budget, it’s still increased officers,” he says. “We're now at the most officers per person that we've ever had in the city. So it's still an expanding service … just not expanding as quickly as they were wanting.”
For residents who might still be unhappy to be facing a 9.77 per cent tax hike, Yacucha encourages them to break down the tax increase, to help understand where their money is going.
Including the fire department, city operations accounts for 3.79 per cent of the proposed increase, RCMP is 3.62 per cent and police dispatch service E-Comm is 2.36 per cent.
“For actual city hall operations, we've really kept it really at a low level,” he says. "A lot of the expenditure that we are being critiqued on during public participation ... people going on about the [cost of] plans, the consultants [and] all of the rest ... the majority of that expense has come through either grants or other non tax revenue sources."
About the cost of E-Comm, he reminds residents that this is a cost downloaded to Langford and nine other south Island municipalities by the province, who have so far not responded to pleas for a reprieve.
Budget discussions will continue at the council meeting on Monday, March 17.
