Vancouver draft budget proposes 5.5% property tax increase

Vancouver councillors were given the first draft of the 2025 operating budget Tuesday, a 373-page document detailing a $2.4 billion dollar budget.

A 5.5 per cent property tax increase is being proposed. That works out to an increase of about $77 for the median strata unit and $211 for the median single-family home. For businesses, the median annual increase is $403.

However, the Vancouver Police Department is asking for more funding than the draft recommends – leaving council with the option of cutting elsewhere or increasing property taxes should they decide to approve all of what the VPD is asking for. Keeping property taxes to a maximum of 5.5 per cent is something Mayor Ken Sim has identified as a priority.

The VPD is asking for a boost of $22.8 million, more than twice the amount being recommended in the report. It comes as the department reports a drop in year after year crime activity.

"People are getting good value for money. Violent crime is down. Property crime is down. stranger assaults are down,”’ Chief Const. Adam Palmer of the VPD told CTV News.

Eighty per cent of the budget goes towards salary, said Palmer. VPD officers have the highest salary among police forces in Canada.

"We need to continue making sure that our police are supported, because otherwise, if we let that slip, we could see that some of that crime rate go back up,” said ABC Coun. Mike Klassen.

He says the extra money the department is asking for will go towards funding other priorities, including body worn cameras – an ask with a price tag of $6.5 million. An increase in the annual budget for policing protests is city is also on the department's list.

In 2024 were there approximately 1,000 protests, normally the city would see about 600 annually, Palmer said.

The draft recommends increasing the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services budget by just over $8 million – bringing the total to $195.2 million.

Chief Karen Fry says the money will go towards purchasing electric fire trucks as well as staffing an additional 22 firefighter positions.

But Fry says a large part of the increase would go toward covering overtime costs.

"It goes back to, to staffing, for, for our sickness, for our workplace injuries," she said.

"We have several staff that are off right now with mental health claims. I believe there's upwards of 20 this year,” said Fry.

The budget also allocates 183.9 million for the Vancouver Park Board, a year-over-year increase of 7.2 per cent.

Councillors are not expected to vote on the budget until next week.