Removing change tables and hygiene product dispensers from some public washrooms in Vancouver is one of the ways the city’s proposed budget will seek to reduce costs to deliver a zero per cent property tax increase. Staff presented the draft budget Wednesday, at a meeting that will stretch over several days due to an unprecedented 639 registered speakers who have signed up to weigh in. Several departments will see their budgets reduced, including Real Estate Environment and Facilities Management. The draft budget calls for a 13 per cent reduction of the department’s $39.3 million budget, which works out to a cut of $4.9 million. The department is responsible for overseeing large, long-term capital projects like building social housing, schools, and community centres. It is also responsible for routine maintenance of civic facilities. The budget presentation indicated there would be reduced capacity for maintenance, and slower responses to “certain public service standards, vandalism and repairs.” Armin Amrolia, the head of the department, when asked for more details, offered a glimpse of what that could look like. “We’re looking at things like removing change tables for babies in high-vandalism areas, which, believe it or not, actually take a lot of time and money to actually replace,” she said, adding another thing under consideration is the “removal of some hygiene product dispensers from other high-vandalism areas.” In addition, she said on-demand maintenance would be phased out in favour of “more regulated maintenance of facilities.” Amrolia indicated details about how the department will find efficiencies in this area would be available upon request. CTV News has contacted the city for more information. This story will be updated when a response is received.
