June 18, 2025
Parteek Singh Mahal
Vancouver City Council on Wednesday approved the 2026 Budget Outlook, paving the way for city staff to begin developing the 2026 operating budget. This move comes as the city grapples with uncertain economic conditions.
Mayor Ken Sim introduced a motion, which passed with broad support, directing city staff to prepare three distinct budget scenarios an operating budget based on a 2.5% property tax increase, an operating budget based on a 1.5% property tax increase and an operating budget based on a 0.0% property tax increase.
These three scenarios will be developed in addition to a previously directed 1% increase specifically allocated for infrastructure renewal. Councillors Lisa Dominato, Sarah Kirby-Yung, Mike Klassen, Peter Meiszner, Brian Montague, and Lenny Zhou all voted in favor of the Mayor’s motion.
Mayor Sim emphasized the need for preparedness given the current economic climate. “In past budgets, Council made tough choices to boost funding for frontline and core services like firefighting, policing, sanitation, and maintenance of public spaces,” he stated. “Between worsening global economic conditions and continued downloading of costs, we need to prepare for a variety of scenarios looking forward.”
The City of Vancouver faces significant budget pressures, with over $200 million annually in costs being downloaded from the Provincial and Federal governments.
“The impact of downloaded costs has put the City in a challenging financial position,” Mayor Sim continued. “We were counting on over $7 million in annual savings from the Park Board transition. That one change alone could have lowered the property tax increase by about 1%.”
As the budget planning process gets underway, the City will prioritize supporting economic activity and building long-term financial stability.
This includes maintaining essential services even amidst the uncertain economic outlook.
Mayor Sim concluded by highlighting the core objective: “This is about beginning the work to understand where savings could come from without making cuts to frontline staff or city service levels. It is vitally important that we look out for the interest of Vancouver taxpayers while doing everything we can to protect the services people rely on.”
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