The City of Vancouver will need to look at service cuts or property tax hikes in the range of nine per cent over the next five years if its fiscal situation doesn't change.
That's what the 2024-2028 budget outlook report, prepared by the city's director of finance, indicates.
The report says the outlook for operating expenditures is driven by factors, including higher fixed costs to provide existing service levels, the renewal of infrastructure and public amenities, Metro Vancouver levies, and the implementation of key initiatives from the 2023 budget, such as the hiring of additional police officers.'
The report says an average property tax increase of about nine per cent each year would be needed to balance the budget if service levels stay the same.