More than half of Port Moody residents aren’t keen to pay more property taxes next year.
And just over a third would approve of fewer services to keep taxes the same as last year.
Those are some of the numbers councillors will ponder as they continue to consider the city’s five-year budget plan that anticipates an 8.52 per cent property tax increase for 2025.
Among other results gathered from Port Moody’s public budget consultation that was conducted online between Oct. 28 and Nov. 17 were themes that many residents are facing their own economic challenges and the city should prioritize livability as it relates to traffic, active transportation and natural environs.
“Concerns about the proposed tax rate within the context of a difficult economic climate for many households,” was one central theme highlighted in a report presented to council’s finance committee on Nov. 19, adding 44 of 260 respondents to the survey expressed a desire to see some projects delayed, reduced in scope or eliminated altogether.
The report said 34 per cent of respondents said they’d rather see Port Moody reduce services it provides instead of boosting taxes; another 18 per cent suggested more drastic cuts to services so the property tax rate could be reduced while 31 per cent said service levels should stay the same even if that requires a property tax increase.
Coun. Diana Dilworth said the survey results are sobering.
“There’s a lot of really unhappy residents with the budget information they’ve received so far,” she said. “It’s fair to say our community is pretty split on cutting services or raising taxes.”
Mayor Meghan Lahti agreed.
“We really need to take this into consideration with what we are doing with our tax rate this year,” she said. “We need to make some changes.”
Coun. Kyla Knowles suggested some of those changes might have to be drastic.
“The nice-to-haves have got to go,” she said. “Let’s focus on our core services and core needs for now.”
Council’s finance committee next meets on Dec. 17.
Monday, Dec. 2, Coquitlam councillors were poised to approve a proposed property tax increase in that city of 6.83 per cent, whittled down from a 7.21 per cent boost initially pitched in October.
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