Limit tax rises to core services and establish a lobbyist registry

CITY TAXES AND THE CAPITAL PLAN

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver on taxes and budget

TEAM’s finance argument is that the city has taken on work outside its core mandate and funded it through property tax and fee increases.

Its page states that over the last decade the city has almost doubled its operating budget, with new spending funded through property tax increases beyond promised inflationary levels. This is TEAM’s own reading of the budget and we have not checked it against city financial statements.

The proposed budget review would sort services into essential and supplementary, develop benchmarks for each, and give council and the public the ability to review and approve departmental budgets and service plans.

5 PUBLISHED COMMITMENTS

What they say they will do

• Limit tax increases to what core services need

  TEAM would limit tax increases to what is necessary to maintain municipal services at levels agreed with the community.

  TEAM for a Livable Vancouver

• Review the operating and capital budgets service by service

  The review would document where costs rose over the last decade and why, sort services into essential and supplementary, and build benchmarks to measure cost and value.

  TEAM for a Livable Vancouver

• Establish a lobbyist registry

  A registry consistent with federal and provincial ones would let residents see who is trying to influence city decisions.

  TEAM for a Livable Vancouver

• Stop spending city money on provincial and federal responsibilities

  TEAM would stop spending city funds on what it considers clearly provincial or federal responsibilities while holding senior governments to account for funding them.

  TEAM for a Livable Vancouver

• Departmental service plans with performance benchmarks

  Departments would develop annual service plans with benchmarks, and management would be held accountable for meeting them.

  TEAM for a Livable Vancouver