A five-times over budget new wastewater treatment plant. International flights worth tens of thousands of dollars. Lofty salaries for staff. If you are concerned over how the regional government, Metro Vancouver, is spending public money, it’s ready to hear about it.
Until Sept. 16, residents who live in the 21 Lower Mainland municipalities, one electoral area and one First Nation that make up Metro Vancouver can provide feedback on issues such as how it finances utilities that provide clean drinking water and wastewater treatment.
The public consultation over its future budget comes during a period of intense scrutiny for the regional government, most notably over the five-times cost increase for the yet-to-be-delivered new North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant (NSWWTP).
The project’s original estimated cost was $700 million, but following a series of problems, has ballooned to $3.86 billion. It’s expected to be completed in 2030 instead of 2023.
The increased attention over Metro Vancouver governance related to the NSWWTP has also raised questions about board members and staff travelling to international conferences and the amount of money it pays its top staffers.
“I think we have some work to do to build back the confidence and the trust in the public,” said City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan, one of Metro Vancouver’s 41 directors.
She passed a motion in the spring calling for enhanced public engagement over Metro Vancouver’s financial plans.
Metro Vancouver’s budget is nearly three billion dollars annually, with the majority of it coming from utility fees.
In 2024, the average household paid $698 for many of the regional services it provides. Going into 2025, the amount is expected to increase by $76 to $774.
There will also be additional new levies, between $80 to $150 per household, depending on where residents live, to begin paying for the NSWWTP.
These are staggered costs, however. Overall, residents on the North Shore are on the hook for what works out to be $590 more a year per household for 30 years for the project.
Flights and salaries
In 2023, Metro Vancouver spent close to $100,000 on flights to conferences for board members and staff to learn best practices from other jurisdictions. It was a nearly $50,000 increase in spending on flights from 2019, the year before the pandemic, according to Metro financial statements.
Metro Vancouver’s commissioner and chief administrative officer Jerry Dobrovolny has also been dragged into the headlines over the money he earns. In 2023 his base salary was $393,607. In 2023 it rose to $451,949.
Metro Vancouver says its spending on travel and things like salaries are properly administered through its budget process and independent assessments.
Still, the regional government’s new board chair, Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, says he understands the unease Metro Vancouver ratepayers may be feeling.
Upon being voted in this past June, he committed to improved transparency.
“There is no doubt this organization is facing some very tough challenges and legitimate questions being raised about how and why certain decisions have been made,” he said at the time. “I want to assure all of you and the public that I take these matters very seriously.”
Since then, Hurley has paused all international travel, pushed forward an independent audit of the NSWWTP project and has also promised a full governance review of Metro Vancouver.
Patrick Johnstone, New Westminster’s mayor and a Metro director, says Hurley has struck the right tone.
“The public is asking us to be more accountable, to be more transparent and to open up some of the things that are sometimes hidden in Metro Vancouver.”
Board members will spend the fall finalizing their budget for next year as well as a five-year financial plan. They will vote on it in October.
About the need for public input, Buchanan said, “It’s really important that we hear their concerns, their financial pressures and how they think we can improve.”
Her motion will have Metro Vancouver report on what it heard from residents and how it was incorporated.