Vancouver Secrets

City Of Vancouver Shares Their Stimulus Plan

Nice to see city hall hasn’t heard about the recession. I’m not sure if they even realize that homeowners have had their equity trimmed by 10-20% so far. Or, that with anticipated property price decline of another 10-20% in 2009, or that we’ll start to see foreclosures soar.

Tourism is down, retail stores will be closing after a bleak Christmas, layoffs continue at a record setting pace.

What the hell…

The Province reports on the City Of Vancouver’s stimulus plan:

Vancouver homeowners can brace for a tax hike of somewhere between 6 and 13 per cent next year. The initial figures tabled Thursday show that an increase of 13 per cent is needed to cover:

• an expected drop in revenues as the economy declines;

• the ongoing shift of the tax burden from businesses to homeowners;

• the cost of 96 new officers and 22 civilian staff for the police department; and

• the annual wage hike for city workers.

But it also says that staff hope to cut the 13-per-cent hike to between 6 and 7 per cent through budget adjustments that won’t affect services.

The general tax increase was 9.5 per cent over three years. But under questioning, Klein noted that the 9.5-per-cent hike didn’t include strike savings, which held the rate down artificially. Without those savings, the general tax hike would have been closer to 12 per cent over three years, she agreed.

I wonder how many more cities will continue to ignore reality, and just keep on spending? Have they ever thought of easy solutions like hiring freezes and budget cuts?

Don’t even get me started on what will happen once the bill comes in for the Olympics.

photo credit: Yellow Mellow