Nanaimo's draft financial plan

City revenue for 2024 is expected to be around $247.8 million dollars with 61.7 per cent coming from property taxes. Photo: Mick Sweetman / CHLY 101.7FM.

Nanaimo residents could see a possible 6.4 per cent increase in property tax next year. Last Wednesday, November 22nd, Nanaimo city council discussed a draft of the 2024-2028 financial plan.

At the beginning of the meeting, Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog asked the city’s director of finance, Laura Mercer, about a question a resident had about Nanaimo’s property tax rate compared to other cities.

“The other night at council, there was a gentleman of course, repeating I think the term is trope isn't it, that we had the third highest taxes in the province of British Columbia. And I just wonder if you can comment on that allegation this morning Ms. Mercer?” Krog said.

Mercer responded that it’s hard to compare the municipal taxes in each city.

“it's very hard, as I've just said, there are many different factors that can play into it, and I'm not exactly sure where his information came from.” Mercer said. “There's clearly different rates, I can't comment on whether we're the third highest or not because it's very hard to compare. So I think if I added everything, all of the user fees and taxes, all of that gives you a fairer comparison.”

In the presentation that was prepared for the meeting, Nanaimo, when compared with surrounding communities and other like-sized communities in British Columbia, had lower property tax rates than Saanich and Victoria. Nanaimo when compared to Parksville and Ladysmith had higher rates, and had similar rates with Kamloops and Kelowna. These figures were based on property taxes for a typical single-family property for 2023.

Next year’s 6.4 per cent tax hike is projected to be followed by a 7.4 per cent increase in 2025 and then projected to go up 4.6 per cent in 2026 and 2.6 per cent in 2027. 

Utility user fees are projected to increase in 2024, with a four per cent increase for sewer, six per cent for water, and 3.2 per cent for sanitation.

The increase means Nanaimo homeowners with a property valued at around $800,000 dollars would pay around $3,715 dollars for all municipal taxes and user fees in 2024, an increase of $211 a year.

Of that, the three biggest costs to taxpayers are $609 for the RCMP, $425 for parks and recreation, and $367 for the fire department and 911.

The total city services paid for by the average taxpayer would come out to $6.31 per day.

City revenue for 2024 is expected to be around $247.8 million dollars with 61.7 per cent coming from property taxes.

Discussion of the budget will continue into the next month with a budget recap on December 1st and an e-town hall on December 4th.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.