1072 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Budget is close to $800M a year.

 

230,000 population.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 January 2025 - 11:05 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Langford city council is planning another tax grab.

 

Last year, council raised property tax rates by a whopping 15.63 per cent. Council is warning that another huge hit is coming.

 

The principal excuse offered is that the province has offloaded the cost of some 911 services on certain municipalities, Langford among them.

 

Council estimates that the cost involved — $1.5 million — will ­necessitate by itself a 2.7 per cent tax hike.

 

https://www.timescol...payers-10160150

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 January 2025 - 05:01 AM.

[Mike K.]

So Sooke is on the list after all.

The mayor said on CFax the fee should be on cellphone plans, at 25 cents a month. Would it be 25 cents a month? It’ll likely have to closer to $5.00, no?

[Victoria Watcher]

So Sooke is on the list after all.

The mayor said on CFax the fee should be on cellphone plans, at 25 cents a month. Would it be 25 cents a month? It’ll likely have to closer to $5.00, no?

 

Somewhere someone had broken it out to amount to $30.00 per call, which tells me the system is bloated.  But that's what you get when 25%-30% of the staff are off sick any one day (those that cannot handle the job should not have been hired in the first place - mostly women at over 80%).

 

Just put it on the damn taxes, we (taxpayers or consumers) are going to pay for it anyway (as we do now).

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 January 2025 - 06:25 AM.

[lanforod]

So Sooke is on the list after all.

The mayor said on CFax the fee should be on cellphone plans, at 25 cents a month. Would it be 25 cents a month? It’ll likely have to closer to $5.00, no?

That's how it was funded in the past, a surcharge on landlines, so probably where the 25 cents comes from.

[Mike K.]

Yup, that is true.

But the mayor saying it ‘would be’ a 25 cent charge doesn’t jive with the actual cost. If Langford is asked to pay $1.5 million, and let’s say hypothetically it has 30,000 cell phones active in the community, that’s $4.17/month per phone.

[Victoria Watcher]

Why would it even be tied to the phone charge? It’s an odd way of doing it. I get that the calls come in via the phone, but that’s not good reason for the charge to go there. If we sent in a 911 report in person or via Internet or smoke signal, it would be odd it’s funded by our phones. It should just be part of the police/fire/ambulance budget, as all other aspects of them are.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 January 2025 - 09:21 AM.

[Barrister]

$5 charge on all smoke sign fires.

[lanforod]

It shouldn’t be tied to phones IMO. Seems a silly way to pay for an essential service. Municipal taxation makes sense though to me this one really should be a provincial service funded by provincial income taxes.

[Victoria Watcher]

Langford locals appeal for property tax hike rethink as Trump's tariff looms

'With a storm brewing on the horizon, it’s not the time to be planning for a party in the garden or the park': resident


https://www.vicnews....f-looms-7794987



The city’s plan for 2024-2028, approved last year, proposed an 11.41 per cent tax increase for 2025, but this did not include the cost for the E-Comm service.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 February 2025 - 12:11 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Talk of 12% tax increase spurs public input on Victoria draft budget

187 more people dig in to documents to voice their thoughts on Victoria's draft budget





The information comes from 187 written responses gathered during an eight-week period at the end of 2024. It was the final piece in a three-prong public engagement approach, which started with an Ipsos poll calling 700 random residents, followed by focused budget conversations with eight local, equity-seeking groups.

A significant number of respondents – 90 per cent of the 61 mentions – supported funding community well-being services such as health and mental health, harm reduction and support for people who use drugs.

Of the 49 mentions, 96 per cent supported funding housing initiatives. Funding for community initiatives such as community gardens, arts and venue spaces saw 87 per cent support of the 46 times it was mentioned.

Mentioned 81 times, 83 per cent opposed funding a police budget increase and many opposed an increase in property taxes (92 per cent of the 76 mentions) as well as beautification projects (98 per cent of the 46 mentions). Of 46 mentions, 35 people specifically referred to the Centennial Square Revitalization Project, with 97 per cent opposed. Of the 187 written submissions, 130 identified as Victoria residents, 17 came on behalf of a local group or non-profit organization, nine from business owners and 31 did not specify.


https://www.vicnews....-budget-7812160

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 February 2025 - 01:02 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Property owners in Greater Victoria face an average $22.83 bump in their property taxes this year after Capital Regional District directors voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a $723-million budget for 2025.

The budget, which includes both the operating and capital budgets for the Capital Regional District, is $87 million more than last year, a 13.7% increase.



https://www.timescol...r-2025-10366781

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 March 2025 - 05:44 AM.

[Barrister]

These guys need to immediately go back and figure out how to drop about 25% of their budget.

[dasmo]

How much are they spending to control the global climate to within 1.5 degrees?

[Victoria Watcher]

As much as it takes!

[dasmo]

They got this! Just need more money.

[Tony]

-Tax rates in some Canadian cities.

 

https://www.nerdwall...is-property-tax

[phx]

-Tax rates in some Canadian cities.

 

https://www.nerdwall...is-property-tax

 

Tax rates are not comparable due to high variations in property values.

Do you have the numbers for municipal spending per capita? That would be interesting.

[Victoria Watcher]

Sidney council approves 10.67% tax hike

 

 

It’s the highest increase in recent decades and means the average residential property owner will pay $191 more

https://www.timescol...x-hike-10370427

[Tony]

Tax rates are not comparable due to high variations in property values.

Do you have the numbers for municipal spending per capita? That would be interesting.

 

The answer tor per capita spending is no.. Victoria also has a increased costs  ( Police for example) that result from being only a downtown core. Victoria does not have the benefits of including the tax revenues from surrounding suburban communities that many other cities have.