Saanich council has decided to cut this year’s property-tax increase to the rate of inflation to provide further relief for residents hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Councillors had already reduced the 2020 tax lift to 3.74 per cent from 7.2 per cent, but voted 6-3 Monday to slash it again to 2.4 per cent.
Mayor Fred Haynes called it a “cautionary, prudent move” that offers assistance to residents — about $35 per homeowner — while protecting the municipality’s ability to help with a post-COVID recovery.
“Some people may not think that $35 is a lot of money,” he said. “Some other people would consider that that is something they would like to have in their pocket to help them in this time.”
It’s still unclear how council will pay for the reduction. Haynes offered a couple of possible scenarios, including using surplus funds or reducing the transfer to facility reserves by about $1.7 million, but staff have yet to report back with recommendations.
Coun. Colin Plant voted against the motion, saying it fell short of what is needed. “I, as one member of this council, cannot stomach any increase at all,” he said.
Plant argued that tying the tax increase to the rate of inflation makes no sense right now.
“We are in 2020 and 2020 is not going to be a year of 2.4 per cent growth,” he said.
Others said the “miniscule” relief offered residents was not worth the risk to the municipality’s long-term financial stability.
“I don’t think we should back off our disciplined approach,” Coun. Rebecca Mersereau said.
“In fact, I see some irony that we are considering reducing funding for reserves and for critical infrastructure at a time when I would say our residents probably recognize the importance and the value of those critical services far more than they ever have in the past.”
But Coun. Ned Taylor said residents are facing an economic crisis as well as a pandemic and Saanich needs to do whatever it can to help.
“There’s only so many tools available to municipalities,” he said. “And although this reduction in our taxes . . . may not have as much of an impact as we would like it to, one dollar not taken from residents through taxes by the municipality is another dollar being spent in the community.”
Saanich joins a number of other municipalities that are either eliminating or reducing property tax increases at a time when businesses have been forced to close and lay off staff.
Victoria scrapped its 3.35 per cent tax lift in favour of a zero per cent increase, and Colwood is aiming for zero as well.
North Saanich approved an average tax increase of 3.29 per cent for residential properties, but deferred a $50 water infrastructure replacement tax hike, reducing the tax increase for an average residence to $41.
