Homeowners in Coquitlam will see a 3.56% hike in their property taxes this year - the smallest increase of residential tax levies in the Tri-Cities.
On Monday, city council voted 8-1 in favour of three readings for the proposed five-year financial plan, which calls for, among other things, two more Mounties, a victims' service worker and eight additional firefighters to staff the new firehall on Burke Mountain, where 20,000 more residents are expected to live in the next 20 years.
Last month, when department heads went before city council with their wish lists, Coquitlam RCMP Supt. Claude Wilcott asked for six more officers this year to continue with the Crime Reduction Strategy target of hiring more police in a city where the cop-to-population ratio is one of the worst in the province.
As well, as part of the budget, council agreed to borrow $10.6 million from the Municipal Finance Authority to build the Burke fire station - the city's fifth fire hall - within the next two years, the funding of which will be repaid using casino revenue from the Great Canadian Casino.
Besides the 3.56% - or $57 - jump in property taxes, homeowners will also face an extra:
6% ($23) for water;
3% ($12) for sewer/drainage;
and 5% ($16) for garbage.
As a result, residents living in an "average" home of $565,000 will pay about $2,807 in city property taxes and utilities in 2012, a lift of $108 over last year; businesses, meanwhile, will see a 2.56% jump.
In his speech, Mayor Richard Stewart said city council is addressing the high business tax rate - a topic that came up frequently on the campaign trail last November - by shifting the tax burden onto residential from the traditional 0.75% to 1%. "Our local businesses pay about 40% of the cost of property tax-funded services even though our commercial properties consume somewhere around 10% of those city services," he said.
Coun. Brent Asmundson said the city has struggled with the high business tax since "1983 to 1997" - a direct shot at Coun. Lou Sekora, who was mayor during those years (after council adjourned, Sekora criticized Asmundson and defended his actions in office).
Sekora, who was the only council member to oppose the budget, said he's not happy that $10 million has been allocated this year for future expansion of Place Maillardville; instead, he wants the well-used community centre to be demolished and rebuilt. Sekora also voiced his concern that two Mounties - rather than the six requested - will be hired.
Afterwards, Stewart told The Tri-City News that only two police officers will be funded as council didn't want to rise taxes too much. And, because of the success of the Crime Reduction Strategy, the crime rate is down locally. "We're way ahead. No one thought we'd get crime reduction down as low as it is," he said.
Stewart also said Coquitlam's police numbers are tied to Port Coquitlam's, with which it shares a detachment. "Financially, our city's in better shape so we could have gone the full six, but we opted not to," he said.
The two Mountie hires "is not that bad," Wilcott told The News on Tuesday. "We got four last year as well. In these economic times, I was very happy with the two that we did get because it allows us to continue with our Crime Reduction Strategy. We've done a pretty good job at reducing crime."
As for the upcoming collective bargaining with the city's union, CUPE, first-term Coun. Terry O'Neill said the negotiations are uncertain. "The Canadian Union of Public Employees is coming out of a very, very generous contract that saw their salaries continue to grow, even when the economy was turning down," he said during the council meeting, adding, "I think the responsible thing for the Canadian Union of Public Employees to do is to restrain their requests, to look at all the gain they made over the last several years and to take into account the public's ability to pay."
Later in the meeting, labour-endorsed candidate Coun. Neal Nicholson argued residents get the best value for service from city employees. "When we made the [previous] contract, that's what we agreed to pay and if didn't think that we were going to be able to pay it, then I guess we shouldn't have signed the contract," he said, "so I think we need to remember that we do all work together, that what we paid is what we agreed to pay."
Property taxes are expected to rise about 3% a year until 2016, according to a staff report. Final adoption of the budget is expected on March 5.
Meanwhile, in Port Coquitlam, staff are recommending a 4.8% tax hike this year while Port Moody is suggesting a 6.74% increase; those budgets have yet to be determined.
