While the Resort Municipality of Whistler is looking at its fourth consecutive property tax hike over and above the rate of inflation - four per cent this year, on top of 20 per cent in increases over the previous three years - the council for the District of West Vancouver is digging in its heels for the second straight year.
According to Councillor Bill Soprovich, a 15-year veteran of council, the district council successfully held the increase to zero per cent in 2010 and came to the council meeting on Jan. 10 hoping to do the same for 2011. After some back and forth they compromised on a modest 1.1 per cent increase for this year, then passed a motion to ensure that the rest of the estimated shortfall should be found in the budget without taking it from infrastructure or operating costs.
While that small increase was a compromise Soprovich was reluctant to make, it's still well below the average inflation rate of 1.71 per cent for Canada last year.
"We're not growing (in population), our assessments are up... so why should our property taxes go up? That's the question we're asking," he said.
Like Whistler, the District of West Vancouver is facing an across-the-board four per cent increase in wages this year, matching an agreement reached with unions representing fire fighters, police and other public workers. And, like Whistler, the majority of the proposed tax increase for 2011 - 2.35 per cent for West Vancouver versus four per cent for Whistler - will go towards wages.
West Vancouver is also one of the six communities that Whistler looks at when setting and increasing wages, while West Vancouver bases its wages on data collected at Metro Vancouver - a conglomeration of 24 municipalities and districts that manage a range of shared core services from drinking water, to sewage, to parks.
For Soprovich, the issue is simple:
"We wanted to go with no increase this year, the reason being is that most of the increase they're asking for - about 90 per cent of it - was to cover the pay increase," he said. "There's no question we have good staff, but what we saw is a generous increase in the number of people receiving higher and higher wages. In 2003 we had 14 (staff members) making over $100,000 and six years later there were 65.
"It's a system that's perpetuated by increased percentages every year and the way it's gone on, the way (wage increases) are entrenched in the system, if we don't fix it, it's going to break."
Of the 2.35 per cent recommended property tax increase for West Vancouver, roughly 80 per cent was earmarked for wage increases. That 80 per cent figure is similar for Whistler.
Soprovich says there has been a bit of pushback in the community as a result of the "zero per cent" approach, as residents are concerned that the levels of service will go down or user fees will continue to increase. There's also concern by municipal staff that some of West Vancouver's infrastructure is aging, and that the government needs to increases taxes now and build up its contingency funds to absorb those costs.
"There has been some push-back, but the majority is saying that the ability to pay is getting tougher for people," he said. "We have 1,400 single parent families in West Vancouver, and 23 per cent are seniors."
And while West Vancouver has a reputation for being affluent, including the wealthy British Properties area, Soprovich said most residents are working class.
"It's a 40-60 split, where 40 per cent are well-off and 60 per cent are not, so the ability to pay every year on some homes... where the tax is ever-increasing is becoming a burden." He said.
"There has to be another way."
Soprovich said there needs to be a larger discussion on public sector wages in the future to address what he sees as a growing discrepancy between the public and private sectors.
Part of the salary issue is related to the fact that West Vancouver's staff is aging and more people are at the top of the wage scales as many workers are approaching retirement. However, said Soprovich, the way wages are set is also an issue.
For example, municipal managers negotiate with unions, knowing that they'll automatically get the same increase they approve.
"So they're really talking about their own salary when they go into these negotiations," he said.
Another issue is the fact that wages are negotiated without considering the reality of the private sector.
"Every CEO I've talked to is going through great cost-cutting measures to survive, and that's just not happening in local government," said Soprovich. "Yes we like our staff, they work hard, but there should be adjustments and reform to how we're doing business versus how we've done business in the past. Until we do that, nothing is going to change."
Soprovich pointed out that staff numbers have remained relatively stable because the District of West Vancouver isn't growing in size or population - like Whistler, the district is confined by its geography, pinched between Howe Sound to the west, Electoral District A to the north, North Vancouver District to the east and Burrard Inlet to the south. However, wages continue to go up.
When asked how West Vancouver could hope to meet the wage increase by holding the property tax increase to zero, Soprovich pointed out that assessments were up for West Vancouver District - 13 per cent overall this year, while Whistler actually decreased by 2.06 per cent. Given that assessments are essentially a bill from the provincial government for services, taxes would have gone up in West Vancouver without any increase to property tax rates.
While there are similarities between Whistler and West Vancouver, there are differences as well. For example, West Vancouver has its own police force while Whistler is policed by the RCMP. West Vancouver is a member of TransLink, while Whistler manages its own transit system. Whistler is a resort where the population can go from 10,000 to 50,000 on a weekend, while West Vancouver is a stable 42,000.
One of the biggest differences is West Vancouver's membership in Metro Vancouver, and the fees that residents pay for services like water and sewerage, waste collection and recycling. Soprovich said that creates management and cost concerns that they have little control over, while Whistler still has direct control over those things.
Over the next several weeks The Pique will look at the wages and economics in the other municipalities that Whistler uses to set its rates of compensation.
