Clare Ogilvie, The Province October 18, 2010
Should social services in Vancouver be cut to balance the budget? What about policing, garbage pick up or parks? Those are the questions Vancouver city councillors and residents will start to grapple with Monday night as council receives initial budget estimates for 2011. Currently, there is budget gap of just over $20 million. And the city must, by law, balance its budget. It’s expected that about $11 million of the $20-million shortfall will be covered by a residential tax increase of about two per cent. So the question remains, says Coun. Raymond Louie: Where should the rest of the money come from? “We are now asking our citizens and our businesses to give their opinions of where their priorities lie and what sort of adjustments they would deem appropriate as we go through this process,” Louie says. Staff will continue to collect public input until Nov.30, when a staff proposal will go to council. A final decision will be made Dec.14. To offer input, go to www.vancouver.ca and follow the budget links. Louie, head of the city services and budgets committee, says that raising taxes by more than two per cent is not a popular choice to deal with the shortfall. “Our goal is to keep it at or around two per cent, which is consistent with what we did in previous years as well, because of all the tough economic times we all are facing,” Louie says. “The other side of the equation is to reduce services, and that is where the citizens have to come in and tell us — would you rather have increased taxes, or reduction in services?” In a weekend statement, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said some things were off the table for cuts. Those included public safety, affordable housing, the environment and arts and culture. “These are services that are crucial to making Vancouver a world-class city. Council has been committed to them and we will continue to support these priorities,” said Robertson.
Should social services in Vancouver be cut to balance the budget? What about policing, garbage pick up or parks? Those are the questions Vancouver city councillors and residents will start to grapple with Monday night as council receives initial budget estimates for 2011. Currently, there is budget gap of just over $20 million. And the city must, by law, balance its budget. It’s expected that about $11 million of the $20-million shortfall will be covered by a residential tax increase of about two per cent. So the question remains, says Coun. Raymond Louie: Where should the rest of the money come from? “We are now asking our citizens and our businesses to give their opinions of where their priorities lie and what sort of adjustments they would deem appropriate as we go through this process,” Louie says. Staff will continue to collect public input until Nov.30, when a staff proposal will go to council. A final decision will be made Dec.14. To offer input, go to www.vancouver.ca and follow the budget links. Louie, head of the city services and budgets committee, says that raising taxes by more than two per cent is not a popular choice to deal with the shortfall. “Our goal is to keep it at or around two per cent, which is consistent with what we did in previous years as well, because of all the tough economic times we all are facing,” Louie says. “The other side of the equation is to reduce services, and that is where the citizens have to come in and tell us — would you rather have increased taxes, or reduction in services?” In a weekend statement, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said some things were off the table for cuts. Those included public safety, affordable housing, the environment and arts and culture. “These are services that are crucial to making Vancouver a world-class city. Council has been committed to them and we will continue to support these priorities,” said Robertson.
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