Vancouver City Council has approved an operating budget for 2023 totalling $1.97 billion, and a property tax increase of 10.7%.
The property tax increase is driven by 1% for additional infrastructure renewal, 1% for reserve replenishment for financial sustainability, 3% for Vancouver Police Department (VPD) services, and 5.7% for funding across all City services, as well as risks around uncertain costs for the whole city.
The updated final budget documents will be made available on the budget webpage. In the meantime, the 2023 Draft Budget PDF file (6 MB) can be viewed online.
Projected average annual increases
The 10.7% increase results in the following average property tax increases for 2023:
- $124 for a condo or strata unit (assessed at $759,000)
- $213 for a residential property overall (assessed at $1,301,000)
- $326 for a single-family home (assessed at $1,997,000)
- $549 for a business property (assessed at $1,098,700)
The actual tax notice for each property owner will differ from the above average amounts and will depend on the assessed value of the property, as well as the change in assessed value of that property relative to the average change in that property class. A property’s assessed value is determined by BC Assessment.
These estimates reflect the City portion of taxes only. The amount due on a property owner’s tax notice will also include utility fees, Provincial school taxes, and taxes levied by other taxing authorities including TransLink, Metro Vancouver, BC Assessment, and the Municipal Finance Authority.
Background
On November 29, 2022, the Draft Current State Operating and Capital budgets were presented to City Council for information as a starting point for discussion and engagement with Council to help align the multi-year planning with the new Council’s priorities. On December 6, City Council approved the 2023 Capital Budget and deferred the 2023 Operating Budget to early 2023 for further consideration.