Burnaby is hiking your taxes by 2.65 per cent.
It could be worse, and it could be better.
Over on the North Shore, West Vancouver is hiking its taxes by 6.89 per cent and North Vancouver is hiking theirs by 3.9 per cent. So, 2.65 per cent seems downright reasonable.
We can’t remember a time when any city didn’t hike its taxes. It seems like a benchmark of some sort has been set around the 2.5 per cent mark.
You might get some squabbles from taxpayers when taxes go up 2.5 per cent, but most don’t seem to get riled unless it goes to the three per cent mark.
And, as usual, local politicians point to wages and inflation as the primary triggers for the hike.
And, they’re right. Wages make up a humongous part of the budget, and given the unionized nature of city employment, pretty much every collective agreement includes wage hikes and benefit increases. Then there’s the city hall managers’ salaries that make the average wage earner green with envy. Up to now, it’s been easier for city councils to hike taxes than to say no to their union workers – who, in Burnaby, are actively involved in city elections.
Some taxpayers suggested the city should use all of its 2015 surplus to bring down the increase. The city did use $1.2 million from that fund to minimize the impact of the tax increase. But it did have an $8.6 million surplus.
But even if they did that, it isn’t going to make a great deal of difference.
What will make a difference is the property assessments.
Though the city adjusts its mill rate to account for property value increases, those whose property values have skyrocketed far more than average – in some cases up to 30 per cent – will undoubtably suffer some “sticker shock” when the 2.65 per cent tax increase hits.
City council has been trying to make sure that taxpayers realize that local politicians have no control over the real estate market. To be sure, they know that even with all of their finger pointing at the province, taxpayers will direct their anger at city hall, not Christy Clark.
But is there a tipping point? Will high tax bills trigger a citizen revolt in Burnaby? Is there a Trump movement just waiting for a local leader?
We doubt it. Like frogs in boiling water, Canadian taxpayers are, for the most part, accepting of tax hikes.
As long as their water is clean, their roads passable, their community pools open, they seem to bear their tax burden with Canadian-like stoicism.
