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Burnaby's property tax increase will be 'reasonable': Hurley

'The reality is, everything is going up'
Property Taxes
Photo: Pixabay

Burnaby landowners can expect their property taxes to rise by 2.5% to 3.5% in 2020, according Mayor Mike Hurley.

But he said the city is still in the early stages of developing its next budget, which will determine its new tax rates. The budget will likely come to council in February or March. 

Meanwhile, Vancouver homeowners are facing a steeper increase. City staff there originally proposed an 8.2% increase for 2020, but councillors have since asked staff to return with new proposals that would see property tax increases of 5%, 6% or 7%.

“I can assure you we won't be anywhere close to that,” Hurley said. “We hold our taxes at pretty reasonable levels and I would expect ours will be reasonable again this year.”

But, he said, an increase of some kind is inevitable.

“The reality is, everything is going up.”

The new budget will likely cover growing staff and operations costs, as the city oversees massive redevelopments, aggressive new affordable housing goals and a forthcoming climate change action plan Hurley said will include “radical changes.”

Last year, Burnaby increased its property taxes by 2.5% to cover its $271 million operating budget. 

Burnaby has already approved its sanitary sewer and waterworks utility rates for 2020, with each rising by 2% and 1% respectively.