A union contract that was negotiated in 2007 for a five-year term so that there would be no labour unrest during the 2010 Winter Olympics, an unanticipated increase in RCMP pensions, and a decline in revenues from development that failed to materialize, are among the factors that will push Township property taxes up this year by almost four per cent.
The contract will give unionized workers a four per cent wage increase this year; wages for non-unionized employees generally rise by the same amount. The RCMP pension fund requires an extra $600,000, and the projected 2.5 per cent growth in residential, industrial and commercial development, which is now down to 1.5 per cent, is equivalent to a $532,000 hit.
On top of this, the Township needs an extra $500,000 for road maintenance, and another half a million dollars for environmental initiatives. These include the solid waste plan intended to meet Metro Vancouver’s goal of reducing the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills.
Without cuts, these increases would raise taxes by 5.64 per cent. Settling on a tax increase of 3.95 per cent, the Township needs to make $1.4 million in cuts to meet the revenue shortfall.
On Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 17 and 18, the Township held two budget open houses to give taxpayers a look at where the municipality plans to spend their money. As usual, taxpayers were invited to comment on these, and give suggestions where cuts should be made. Budget pamphlets, including the feedback questionnaire, have been sent to 30,000 householders.
Sixteen people attended Monday’s five-hour open house, including several Township councillors.
Township hall departments have come up with their own ideas for tax savings. These include closing Willoughby Community Centre on statutory holidays, for an annual savings of $3,400; reducing the use of washrooms attached to schools ($7,000); reducing operating hours at the Walnut Grove and Blair Recreation Centres on statutory holidays ($12,000); cancelling Aldergrove’s hanging baskets ($25,000); closing the Langley Demonstration Garden ($35,000), and cancelling Rivers Day ($40,000).
This year, the Township is inviting the public to comment on these proposals, as well as the level of service, and other areas where cuts can be made. The questionnaire, which is also available online at www.tol.ca/budget, must be filed by Jan. 28.
For a house with an assessed value of $452,000, the increase will add another $54 to the property tax bill. The tax bill will show that they will pay $1 more this year for fire protection, $2 more for recreation and culture, $9 for parks, $17 for roads, and $21 more for police services.
Capital projects earmarked for this year include the design and first phase of building a water line to Aldergrove, widening Old Yale Road, renovating or improving Brookswood Library, Langley Centennial Museum, Blair Rec Centre and the RCMP detachment.
Improvements are planned for several parks, and the fire department’s training ground will be expanded.
In March, council will give the first three readings of the capital and operating budgets which form part of the Five Year Capital Plan.
The open house continues today (Tuesday) from 1 to 6 p.m. at Township hall.