Getting to Zero

Recently, the Mayor of Vancouver directed city staff to produce a budget with a zero percent increase in taxes. Closer to home, John Wilson, CEO of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, wrote an article in the Business Examiner calling on the thirteen municipalities in the greater Victoria area to follow suit. In his article, Mr. Wilson states that "people in the private sector understand a hard truth: raising prices to pay for things that are 'nice to have' rather than 'must have' is not sustainable" and "local governments need to apply the same discipline".

I have lived in Qualicum Beach since 2018 and have seen my municipal property taxes increase substantially over those years. Since 2019, my municipal property taxes have gone up 48%. This is unsustainable and must stop.

Council and staff are currently preparing the Town's 2026 budget with Committee of the Whole meetings scheduled for community input. These meetings are set for November 12 (Strategic Planning) and January 14 and 15 (Budget Planning). Presumably, the Town will send out notices in advance advising of the time and location of the meetings. I encourage the public to attend the meetings and press our Council to produce a zero percent increase budget.

Can the Town of Qualicum Beach bring in a zero percent increase budget? Perhaps a better question is "Why cannot the Town bring in a zero percent increase budget?"

We rely on the Town to provide many services. Some of these are core or essential services. These include police and fire protection, roads and sidewalks, garbage collection and the provision of sewer and water services. These are the "must have" services referred to in Mr. Wilson's article and must be given priority over the "nice to have" services. In producing its budget, the Town must first account for the essential services and, only then, should the nice to have items be considered. The nice to have items should then be costed and prioritized so that only those that we can afford and justify are added to the budget. As with a household budget if a homeowner wants an electric bike and a new television but also needs a new roof on the house something will have to be eliminated if there is not enough money for all three items. Unlike the Town, the homeowner cannot simply raise taxes to provide the extra money and must prioritize the needs and apply the available money accordingly. Say goodbye to the bike and television. The Town needs to apply the same principles.

In addition to prioritizing services, what else can the Town do to achieve a zero percent budget? Some suggestions:

1. Initiate a policy regarding grants to non-profit groups. The Town supports a number of non-profit organizations in various ways including outright grants of money, fee for service agreements and providing non-market rent of Town facilities. Some municipalities have policies whereby the total amount of monies provided to all non-profits in a year is capped at an amount proportional to the amount of property taxes collected. Once that amount has been doled out, there is no more money available. Some policies discourage double dipping such that, for example, free rent/non-market rent of municipal facilities or a property tax exemption is taken into consideration when determining a non-profit organization's request for funding. The Town of Qualicum Beach does not appear to have any policies dealing with this issue. Perhaps it should.

2. Review the accounting for various town resources and facilities to ensure that expenses are allocated appropriately. Only by doing this can the actual operating costs be determined and actual user fees be set.

3. Review of rental/lease rates for town facilities. At a recent council meeting, staff put forward a proposal to increase the rental rates for the use of the Civic Centre and the Community Hall. In a memo to council it was revealed that there has been no increase in rents for 13 years. Unfortunately, there was no discussion about the actual occupancy rates which may have shed some light on whether the facilities are actually needed. I also recall a council meeting of a year or so ago, where it was disclosed that many of the leases that the town has for its properties were very old and had not been reviewed in a number of years. This is not good enough. All of the Town's facilities have operating costs which are covered by either rental/lease income or from general revenue (ie the taxpayer). The occupancy rates and lease/rental arrangements, as well as operating costs must be reviewed, to ensure that an unfair burden is not imposed on the taxpayer.

4. Reconsideration of the property tax exemptions that the Town currently provides for non-profits. The Community Charter permits a municipality to exempt certain properties from paying municipal property taxes. This is over and above the mandatory exemptions granted to churches and is for property owned or occupied by non-profit groups. The exemptions are granted by a bylaw passed by the Town. Such a bylaw was recently passed granting a number of these exemptions for the ensuing year. In the memo to Council regarding the exemptions, the Director of Finance stated that "the proposed exemptions total approximately $658,000 in foregone taxes across municipal, school, regional, district and other taxes. Of this amount, approximately $305,000 - equivalent to a 2.3% property tax increase - relates to municipal property taxes. These exemptions effectively shift the tax burden to non-exempt taxpayers." What is not stated specifically is that the remainder ($353,000) that is payable to other entities such as the regional district is also passed on to non-exempt Qualicum Beach taxpayers. Thus, the property tax exemptions in total ($658,000) are the equivalent of a tax increase in excess of 5%, rather than the 2.3% increase stated inn the memo. The memo from the Director of Finance also stated that the list of exempted properties has remained unchanged from previous years and that the Town does not require an application process. So, if the property was exempted in the past, it continues to be; no need for the non-profit to do anything; the Town will take care of it. This is not good enough. Many municipalities have policies and application processes that serve as a guide in evaluating requests for tax exemptions. In some municipalities, exemptions are only granted if the applicant can demonstrate financial need and if the services provided by the applicant benefit residents within the municipality. Some municipalities take into consideration the various forms of assistance already provided to the applicant by the municipality such as non-market rent and grants in order to prohibit "double dipping". A search of the Town's website failed to locate any such policy for Qualicum Beach. A letter to the Mayor and Council, at the time Council was adopting the tax exemption bylaw for the ensuing year, asking if the Town had such a policy remains unanswered to date.

   
   

5. Essential services such as police and fire protection are increasing every year. There is likely no ability to reduce these costs. This emphasizes the need for the Town to examine all other existing services to find offsetting cutbacks.

   
   

6. After topping up the various reserve funds to their appropriate levels, determine an appropriate amount of the accumulated surplus that can be applied to reduce property taxes collected and apply it.

I am certain there are other things that the Town can do to achieve a zero percent increase in property taxes. However, it is not the public's job to find tax savings. That is the job of Town Council and staff. Council must give clear instructions to staff that it wants to get to zero and direct staff to search for solutions. For this to happen, the public must make it clear to Council that ever increasing property taxes are unsustainable and must stop. Attend the meetings and state your position.

James Noel

November 7, 2025

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