A Vision Vancouver Councillor says it’s good news, with the release of a balanced draft budget containing only a small tax increase.
Raymond Louie says residents will now only face a 2.5 percent hike, in line with inflation, instead of the initally projected 9 percent, “We’ve been working on 11 major components to find those types of savings. For instance, our better bylaw system is saving us about 1.9 million dollars a year. Streamlining our sanitation collection between our parks and our city collection is several hundred thousand dollars a year.”
The tax boost will help fill a 52-million-dollar shortfall in the budget, which totals one-point-one billion.
Big projects include more police officers and more affordable housing.
Council is set to vote on the draft March 5th.
The last public hearing will take place February 29th.