Water and sewer rates in Vancouver could rise by as much as 10% this year
Over the last week, two prominent lobby groups were in the news regarding issues we should all care about. First up was the right-leaning Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation (CTF) who raised a big red flag about how we’re all going to pay a lot more for government services in 2012.
According to Jordan Bateman, a local spokesperson for the CTF, British Columbians should start clutching on to their wallets a little tighter this week. That’s because the cost of provincial services such as car insurance, medical and employment insurance premiums, electricity and ferry rides are on the rise.
In fact, the average British Columbian will be spending almost $400 more of their after-tax income for the identical services they received last year. However, it should be noted that British Columbia does retain bragging rights for instituting some of the lowest personal income tax rates in the country.
Meanwhile, the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is trying to raise awareness about a group of individuals who aren’t losing much sleep about an increase in government fees. They are some of Canada’s top earners who are taking home millions of dollars’ worth of salary and benefits each year.
In order to make their point, CCPA calculated by noon on January 3, any one of the top 100 CEOs in Canada on average already has made $44,366 in salary this year. That figure is significant because it is equivalent to the amount the average worker in Canada makes on an annual basis.
Although I appreciate the analysis done by these lobby groups, I remain puzzled as to what they would propose instead. Is the Taxpayer’s Federation advocating a cut in services in order to ensure no additional fee increases? If so, which services would they cut?
As for the CCPA, are they proposing a government-imposed cap on CEO salaries in Canada? If so, I doubt that would get much support in our free enterprise economy.
Unfortunately, lost in all these points is how much city governments continue to quietly rack up costs to property taxpayers. Despite the fact inflation is hovering around 2%, the City of Vancouver is set to raise water and sewer rates by a whopping 10% this year. The city also plans to increase garbage collection fees by 5.7%.
Unless you happen to be one of Canada’s top CEOs, it’s likely that everything from trash collection to hospital visits will affect your bottom line this year. But at least for now few of us appear willing to do anything more than simply grumble about it.
- Post by Daniel.You can follow us on Twitter @CityCaucus or you can "like" us on Facebook at facebook.com/citycaucus. This column first appeared in 24 Hours Vancouver on Thursday, January 5, 2012. You can follow Daniel on Twitter @Fontaine_D.
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Thanks Daniel. It is important to keep on top of these things and call people to account. Do you know what is driving the increase in water and sewage rates and in garbage collection fees? Are these increases intended to cover (i) higher operating costs, (ii) the need for capital investments, (iii) new services, (iv) stricter standards, etc. Or are these easy targets and are revenues from these services being used to supplement general revenues? If these fees did not go up would there be a shortfall that needs to be covered by, for example, property taxes?
As for Jordan Batemen and the CTF, it is more of a “do as I say, not as I do” thing.
http://greennewwest.blogspot.com/2011/11/pledging-to-stop-property-taxes.html
‘infrastructure reserve fund’ is what I have read plus a new system to divert storm water from sewer lines.
Garbage increases are to pay for increased recycling division cost.
By now, I suspect you know my feelings on the subject. Residents are still not paying for their full share of services – even with these fee increases. If they would, we might want less, use less and spend less. Not sure why this does not get included in the ‘green agenda’
The Thought of The Evening
“BC The Best Place on Earth… for Feather Plucking!”
And I have the chicken to prove it.
These news, are all good news for moi, though!
T-shirt sales with the slogan:
“ICH BIN EIN STUPIDER”
… going through the roof!
We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.
Some interesting data on population trends in BC. http://urbanfutures.com/Q3%202011%20Migration.html In a normal market population loss would bring down housing prices, but we are not in a normal market.
One of my favorite cities to visit is Chicago. But when you have to schlep to McCormick Place for a convention, it puts a drag on the trip. However, at least McCormick Place is relatively near downtown if somewhat disconnected. If it were out by O’Hare, it would completely negate any benefit of being in Chicago. The same would be true for a convention center out by JFK. No one says, “Let’s go to one of the greatest cities in the world but not be close enough to the action to easily experience it.” Cities like New Orleans, Las Vegas and San Francisco have convention centers near their biggest assets and are successful. Cuomo should take note of that to avoid this boondoggle of an idea.
Privatize garbage and re-cycling. It is done in major jurisdictions and should be used in Vancouver. The first few years are more expensive but over time the city and the taxpayers win on huge savings.
I know that Vision cannot do it because they are financed by the unions that represent outside workers and they do not stand up for the taxpayer.
What ever happened with the idea of removing large garbage bins from the allies?
what happened to removing the dumpsters?
Haulers have a lot of power – even more power than the green lobby.