‘Short-term gain’: Victoria city councillor cautions against Vancouver’s 0% property tax push

A Victoria city councillor is weighing in on the City of Vancouver’s decision to freeze property taxes for 2026.

A Victoria city councillor says Vancouver’s city council’s direction to staff to pursue a zero per cent property tax increase for 2026 could backfire.

Coun. Jeremy Caradonna said during the COVID-19 pandemic, council voted to freeze property taxes in Victoria.

Five years later, Caradonna said, the municipality is still struggling to catch up financially.

“It essentially created a $4.7 million deficit,” he said. “And that deficit has only been compounded in the last five or six years.”

Caradonna said the city’s deficit is now hovering around $30 million.

“I think people need to understand that when you push pause on property taxes, all the costs that come to local government don’t just magically disappear,” he said.

‘Assets were deteriorated’

Caradonna said the city also struggled to keep up with infrastructure renewal, such as road repairs.

“Our assets were deteriorated because we weren’t maintaining them at the rate or the level that we should be.”

It’s a stark reality Vancouver could face should it implement a zero per cent property tax increase for 2026.

On Wednesday, despite pushback from opposition councillors, Mayor Ken Sim’s “Zero Means Zero” motion passed.

It directs staff to find around $120 million in savings to freeze property tax rates for the 2026 draft budget.

‘We want to make life more affordable’

At Wednesday’s council meeting, Sim said core services like libraries, community centres, the Vancouver Police Department, and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services would be protected under the motion.

“Unlike other councilors here who want to increase property taxes by six to seven per cent, to make life more unaffordable for residents and business owners, we’re being very clear that we want to make life more affordable,” Sim said.

Caradonna said while he understands Sim’s sentiment, it could create challenges.

“It’s one of those things that has good headlines and short-term gain,” he said.

The councillor added Vancouver should look at the lessons learned from Victoria.

“It’s not fiscally prudent to do these sorts of things,” he said. “It’s what we call electoral math.”

A municipal election is set for next October, although Sim has not yet announced if he’ll be running again.

On Wednesday, COPE Coun. Sean Orr asked him if residents can expect a similar increase in 2027.

“Let’s see what we do,” Sim said. “And I fully expect that we’ll do the same thing in the following year.”