With a proposed property-tax increase of 9.05 per cent for the upcoming Saanich municipal budget, Mayor Fred Haynes says the final number has to come down considerably.
A tax lift of 6.7 per cent was already in the works before the Active Transportation Advisory Committee came forward with a request for a 2.35 per cent funding jump for traffic calming and bike lanes.
Long-serving Coun. Judy Brownoff said the current budget request is the highest she has ever seen, and she also wants it to be lower. Last year’s increase was 5.5 per cent, she said.
Brownoff said the lift was up to 6.7 in part because the municipality filled 20 new positions last year. “So their full salary comes into effect this year.”
Labour costs rose, as well, after contract negotiations, and $750,000 has been added to parks-acquisition funding.
Haynes said he is aiming to keep the tax increase to between five and six per cent.
While the municipality needs to do some “critical hiring” this year, particularly in information technology and the development department, any non-critical hiring should be put off for a year, he said.
The personnel requests currently make up 1.1 per cent of the total increase.
Haynes said he feels that residents’ capacity to pay more has been curtailed by COVID-19 and recent inflation.
The overall budget is $398,676,200.
Haynes said the municipality is looking at “refining” capital projects like road work and park improvements, putting off less-critical work and focusing on projects that should be done right away.
The Active Transportation Advisory Committee has identified key stretches of road for traffic calming, including on Tillicum, and the municipality is also looking at Sayward and Cordova Bay roads, Haynes said, but safety could be improved by simply reducing speeds on some roads.
“It’s the least expensive and it has an immediate effect — of course there’s enforcement issues,” he said.
“We’re bringing forward a policy on how to address road speeds on our residential, collector and major roads.”
Options include bringing speeds down from 50 km/h to 40 or 30 km/h on residential streets, and from 50 km/h to 40 km/h on collector roads.
Saanich residents have been calling for improvements to the municipality’s cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, he said.
Council meets as committee of the whole today at 6 p.m. in chambers to discuss its financial plan. In-person attendance is permitted but space is limited.
Video of the meeting can be seen at saanich.ca.
Registration to speak in the public part of the meeting — online or by phone — must be done by noon today at [email protected] or 250-475-5501.
