1156 replies to this topic

[lanforod]

^ so how much extra did they spend? 5m? probably... That's all property taxes.

[Mike K.]

Esquimalt Road, Lampson Street, and Tillicum Road have all been bike-ified. Victoria’s lanes cost tens of millions of dollars. I wonder what the total expense was for Esquimalt, in addition to grants.

[LJ]

Lampson south of Esquimalt Road is unbikefied the last time I rode it.

[Victoria Watcher]

Esquimalt council vows to lower proposed 13% tax increase

 

 

Police make up just over 21 per cent of the operating budget, while 2.2 per cent goes toward providing library services.

The township is expected to increase its police budget by $1.1 million.

Property taxes account for 51 per cent of revenue for the township, which also receives payments in lieu of taxes from CFB Esquimalt that make up around 29 per cent of revenue.

The township has $19 million in reserve funds, including $6 million reserved for capital projects.

Irvine said Esquimalt’s ongoing capital projects will have no impact on 2026 property taxes, as all have been funded through borrowing or reserve funds.

Esquimalt is building a $27.1-million public safety building that is to be completed this year.

It has allocated $7.1 million toward sidewalk and bike-lane improvements, $3.1 million for storm and sewer infrastructure, and $2.6 million to replace the 40-year-old arena floor at Archie Browning Sports Centre.

Irvine said Esquimalt still has plenty of ability to take on more debt, should the township choose to do so.

Under B.C. regulations, ­Esquimalt is permitted to go up to $9.4 million in annual debt payments and is currently only paying about $2 million in principal and interest annually, he said.

 

https://www.timescol...crease-11753372

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 January 2026 - 05:16 AM.

[Mike K.]

Sidewalks and bike lanes are two different things. But as we were asking in another thread, we see now Esquimalt is expending millions of dollars for bike lane infrastructure, and to be honest, it is very, very underused currently. Much like Saanich’s Tillicum and Gorge lanes.

[Tony]

Many sidewalks see equal or less traffic than adjacent bike lanes. 

 

Why do people not complain about the cost of sidewalks in the city?

[Victoria Watcher]

Even for a small amount of foot traffic it’s preferable they have a sidewalk, especially on busier streets. Whereas even on the busiest streets we have a system that allows bikes to use the traffic lanes.

[Tony]

Agree! The cost of sidewalks is accepted for pedestrian safety even on lightly used city streets on both sides.

 

Why should not they same apply to the limited number of city streets where separated bike lanes provide the same degree of safety for the cyclist?

[Victoria Watcher]

Because it’s fouling up decades of accepted car traffic. Sometimes reducing capacity by half.

[Victoria Watcher]

With Saanich facing the prospect of an 8.74% tax increase in 2026, the district is asking residents to weigh in with ideas on how their tax dollars should be spent.

 

https://www.timescol...budget-11770510

[lanforod]

I can't seem to get the email for the account setup, so I guess I can't do the survey.

[Victoria Watcher]

Islands Trust staff at the penultimate Financial Planning Committee (FPC) meeting before the March budget adoption, reveal over half the proposed tax increase is due to lost revenue. 

In a Jan. 21 presentation to the FPC, Islands Trust director of administrative services, Julia Mobbs, revealed a 43 per cent decrease in money they will receive from grants, investment income and fees in 2026. Surplus and reserve transfers are also down 73 per cent. 

This means of the 13.9 per cent proposed tax increase, 7.1 per cent is to cover off this lost revenue, amounting to $1.5 million. 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...evenue-1302879/

[Mike K.]

How do you lose 43%? That’s a staggering drop. What are the fees they’re not able to collect? It sounds like a municipal service that may not be needed, or isn’t structured right.

[Matt R.]

It sure does.

These folks almost had to move head office to Oak Bay recently. They were renting space from B.C. hydro, granting themselves TUP after TUP because they were outside of their own zoning, and then were not able to find suitable office space to rent locally due to their own land use policies. $210k to move that office. Someone made a fortune running Ethernet.

[Victoria Watcher]

These folks almost had to move head office to Oak Bay recently. They were renting space from B.C. hydro, granting themselves TUP after TUP because they were outside of their own zoning, and then were not able to find suitable office space to rent locally due to their own land use policies. $210k to move that office. 

 

That's gold.

[Matt R.]

Absolutely insane. I don’t think anybody I know on this island who likes them, or the crd for that matter.

We had a little permitting issue a few years back, the IT was great to work with, helpful and proactive. Only ended up needing five permits!

[Mike K.]

Oak Bay is still on an island.