City of North Vancouver council has settled on a 5.95 per cent tax hike for municipal taxpayers in 2025.
Council and financial staff first met Jan. 27 to discuss the 2025 budget, where they initially proposed an overall 6.89 per cent increase. Main drivers for the increase were the RCMP contract, wage increases and switching to an E-COMM system for 911 services.
In a March 3 meeting, the operating budget increased by half a million dollars and the capital plan by $3.8 million from January's proposal, but the city was still able to lower the overall tax increase with a few changes and grant applications.
Reduced RCMP costs, a new towing contract providing additional revenue for the city, and BC Assessment’s completed tax roll growth are taking some pressure off the operating budget and overall tax increase, according to financial staff.
Staff said for the new 911 services the city will have a $100,000 grant from the Union of BC Municipalities, adding that the “Next Generation 911 Implementation” project is expected to be fully externally funded. Staff suggested deferring the city's bike and micromobility parking facilities project to 2027, and the traffic signals project to future years to free up additional funding for the Casano-Loutet overpass project to go ahead this year.
Without increasing tax dollars and to fully fund the overpass, staff suggested pushing the cycling infrastructure improvement Chesterfield Avenue project to 2027 and the greenway development in the Westview and Tempe neighbourhoods to 2028. However, staff are looking for external funding through the federal government and additional TransLink funds.
Concerns with Casano-Loutet overpass project
Coun. Don Bell said while the overpass project has the benefit of improving pedestrian and cyclist safety in crossing the highway, he's concerned that in order to pay for the project it is coming out of the street paving budget.
“At this point, I think our street paving needs to be maintained, but I understand that if we get some more federal money or we’re able to rejuggle – depending on the actual costs – we can re-address that,” he said.
With the overpass project needing an additional $5.8 million on top of the proposed budget after receiving the lowest bid from contractors, Bell also worried if the tariffs down south could further drive up the price.
Financial staff said they don't anticipate that type of increase as not all the project price is "tariff exposed." Another reason to bring forward the project this year is to try to mitigate any possible tariff or retaliatory tariffs on construction materials like metal, staff said.
Addressing skatepark roof concerns
During the Jan. 27 meeting, members of the skateboarding community asked council to reconsider construction plans for part of the new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre to include a budget for a covered skatepark.
After hearing the concerns, staff suggested adding a $50,000 feasibility study to the 2027 capital plan to look into a roof for the new skatepark. But the study's timeline and cost sparked some debate from council last week, with Coun. Don Bell leading a push to get the study done sooner.
After some debate, council agreed to move the feasibility study to 2026.
City council will figure out how to divvy up tax rates on March 31, and finalize the budget by April 7. The 2025 tax rate bylaw must be passed before May 15.
Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
https://bsky.app/profile/abbyluciano.bsky.social
Want to stay updated on North Vancouver and West Vancouver news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
