2023 Financial Plan

City of White Rock - Proposed 2023 - 2027 Financial Plan


The Draft 2023 - 2027 Consolidated White Rock Financial Plan is available for preview. Citizens are welcome to provide comments below for Council’s review and consideration.

Council is currently in the midst of a comprehensive review process prior to finalizing and approving the financial plan by the legislated May 15 deadline.

The draft financial plan recommends an overall combined property and utilities tax increase of $442 or 7.64% for an average single-family home and $184 or 8.47% for a strata home.

The proposed increase is a result of the need to grow capital funding while maintaining service levels and keeping operating costs in check. It reflects a substantial contractual increase in policing costs, includes previously approved commitments, and provides a modest increase to protect for inflation in asset improvement funding.

Financial Plan Impact to Average Household (SFD) in 2023

2022
2023
Change $
Change %
Property Taxation



Municipal Operations
$ 2,157$ 2,382$ 22510.43%
Police Service
9931,033404.00%
Asset Improvement
7868718510.88%
Total Property Taxes
$ 3,936
$ 4,286$ 3508.90%
Utilities



Drainage Utility Charge
$ 555$ 579$ 244.32%
Solid Waste Utility Charge
345355102.90%
Sewer Utility Charge
265278134.91%
Water Utility Charge
686731456.56%
Total Utilities $ 1,851$ 1,943$ 924.97%
Total Annual Cost $ 5,787$ 6,229$ 4427.64%


Financial Plan Impact to Average Strata Unit in 2023

2022
2023
Change $Change %
Property Taxation



Municipal Operations
$ 818$ 903$ 8510.43%
Police Service
376391154.00%
Asset Improvement
2983303210.88%
Total Property Taxes$ 1,492$ 1,624$ 1328.90%
Utilities



Drainage Utility Charge
$ 167$ 175$ 84.79%
Sewer Utility Charge265278134.91%
Water Utility Charge
2472783112.55%
Total Utilities $ 679$ 731$ 527.66%
Total Annual Cost $ 2,171$ 2,355$ 184
8.47%



The Draft 2023 - 2027 Consolidated White Rock Financial Plan is available for preview. Citizens are welcome to provide comments below for Council’s review and consideration.

Council is currently in the midst of a comprehensive review process prior to finalizing and approving the financial plan by the legislated May 15 deadline.

The draft financial plan recommends an overall combined property and utilities tax increase of $442 or 7.64% for an average single-family home and $184 or 8.47% for a strata home.

The proposed increase is a result of the need to grow capital funding while maintaining service levels and keeping operating costs in check. It reflects a substantial contractual increase in policing costs, includes previously approved commitments, and provides a modest increase to protect for inflation in asset improvement funding.

Financial Plan Impact to Average Household (SFD) in 2023

2022
2023
Change $
Change %
Property Taxation



Municipal Operations
$ 2,157$ 2,382$ 22510.43%
Police Service
9931,033404.00%
Asset Improvement
7868718510.88%
Total Property Taxes
$ 3,936
$ 4,286$ 3508.90%
Utilities



Drainage Utility Charge
$ 555$ 579$ 244.32%
Solid Waste Utility Charge
345355102.90%
Sewer Utility Charge
265278134.91%
Water Utility Charge
686731456.56%
Total Utilities $ 1,851$ 1,943$ 924.97%
Total Annual Cost $ 5,787$ 6,229$ 4427.64%


Financial Plan Impact to Average Strata Unit in 2023

2022
2023
Change $Change %
Property Taxation



Municipal Operations
$ 818$ 903$ 8510.43%
Police Service
376391154.00%
Asset Improvement
2983303210.88%
Total Property Taxes$ 1,492$ 1,624$ 1328.90%
Utilities



Drainage Utility Charge
$ 167$ 175$ 84.79%
Sewer Utility Charge265278134.91%
Water Utility Charge
2472783112.55%
Total Utilities $ 679$ 731$ 527.66%
Total Annual Cost $ 2,171$ 2,355$ 184
8.47%


Ask questions or share comments on the proposed 2023 Financial Plan

Comments and questions received will be summarized (answered where applicable) and shared with Council at the March 27, 2023, Finance & Audit Committee meeting. 

CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

I think this tax increase is unacceptable, especially as many White Rock residents are seniors on a fixed pension income. We have to trim our expenditures to fit our costs, why can't you ? It seems to me that so many private companies are raising their prices because the whole world is looking at increased costs and hoping to get away with increased profits, just like grocery companies and energy companies seem to be doing. We elected you to manage costs sensibly and, if you cannot do that, we can just as easily unelect you.

Alan Gray about 1 year ago

You ran on this very thing ,criticizing the last administration on high taxes ,taxes are one thing if as residents we could see improvements for higher taxes it would be easier to accept.Already money has been spent on consultants ,something which you criticized the last bunch for .Same old same old ,another one term mayor hopefully one day the taxpayer will get someone who at least try’s to live up to their promises.

John Warren about 1 year ago

We elected this council to begin to get management of the city under control. It is easy to raise taxes but it shard to make tough choices to hold the line and that was the expectation.Now is certainly not the time to add staff when staff issues came up time and agin during the run up to the election. Many of us were unsatisfied with the coordination and usage of the present staff. This council needs to go through the budget line by line and make amendments to keep the raise to inflation or less. If we can't afford to be a city do we have to look at other choices?

abs156 about 1 year ago

I am opposed to increasing property taxes for this financial plan or any other. For the 15 years I have been a homeowner in White Rock, City council has increased its budget at rates well above inflation every year (as far as I recall). I no longer find that acceptable. Difficult tradeoffs can and should be made so that local homeowners aren’t perpetually forced to devote an ever increasing portion of their own budgets to the City’s bottomless appetites. Fiscal irresponsibility is a compounding problem, and I want council to stop it.

Jason about 1 year ago

Are their any other sources of income that can be used to pay for these items? We already pay proportionately much higher property taxes in WR. What about increasing DCC’s instead? This is a huge hit to people already struggling with an enormous increase in mortgage rates and grocery costs.

Finn’s person about 1 year ago

Removed by moderator.

andrew about 1 year ago

As a long time user of the Coldicutt ravine park to access the beach and just to hang out at the bench half way down I am disappointed to see no budget to maintain and repair the the access to this iconic White Rock park. Many of my neighbours feel the same way. With the last 5 or 6 OCP's calling for more parkland in White Rock it seems counter productive to remove this park from the park inventory. Do to the loss of funding for the Helen Fathers Park, might I suggest you use the money from that project to upgrade Coldicutt Ravine and rename it the Helen Fathers Park. Seems like this would save the city and the the taxpayers money and therefore would be a prudent decision. If the ravine were to collapse the clean up costs to get the storm water flowing in a controlled manner the cost of this would be prohibitive.

I also do not see a plan or budgeting for the replacement of all water pipes in the city, which is an item that everyone knows or should know is should be very high priority. When the wells stop producing sufficient water and we will hook up to either Surrey or Metro water this will need to have been done. We have run out of water once already [5 corners fire].

andrew about 1 year ago

I have a question about one of the projects mentioned in the drafted 2023 Financial Plan. Specifically, in the Asset Improvement Program on p.156 the report mentions Finlay Street Beach Access Ramp to increase beach accessibility. Could you direct me to the correct department to get more information?
As a white rock resident who is very invested in accessible beach access points, I was hoping to hear more about what specific improvements will be made and the timeline for project completion.

Sarah about 1 year ago

Surrey managed this:The tax-hike reduction would be made possible by $89.9 million coming to Surrey as part of the B.C. government’s “growing communities” fund , which is designed to help with infrastructure and other costs in the fast-growing municipality.

“Since the proposed budget was made public two weeks ago, the city has secured nearly $90 million from the province of British Columbia,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke.
Will White Rock do the same?? Did we get any funding? If so how much?

No Tax Increase about 1 year ago

I completely disagree with the increase! Time to get creative in seeking funding from the Provincial and Federal Governments. I would like to see more involvement from the local MLA and the Federal MP representing White Rock to get the funding that other cities in BC get.

No Increase about 1 year ago

Hi council and Mayor Knight,
Just like most households with a budget crunch can not just raise their income; the same should apply to all forms of government. If the government is facing a budget crunch then council needs to cut spending not raise taxes; just as households will have to do in response to your tax increase. More importantly what can residents expect to see with this tax increase? it seems budget creep is an issue at White rock. You are going to have to make tough decisions for the future of White Rock residents which may include items such as privatizing municipal operations since a small city can not afford to replicate a whole working apparatus. Tender out garbage and recycling, development services, amalgamate operations with other cities that aren't a viable financial option. Cut capital expenses and salaries before you raise taxes. Residents will only accept a tax raise if they see that the city is a lean operation.

White Rock resident about 1 year ago

No space to copy previous 15 years of pointing out need for effective Pier Management Plan that spells out destructive testing regime (first proposed in 1998) and rotational structural component upgrade budgeting to successfully resist storm events.

David Riley about 1 year ago

Please Meghan and new council. I voted for you to take care of this very issue and with climate change there needs to be some targeted effort in our city as we are most vulnerable. Do a review and shape the finances to serve our wonderful city and community.

Nicole about 1 year ago

The 11.44% increase in municipal operations is substantially higher than the rate of inflation. Lack of an overview explanation means we must assume there are no improvements planned so is this due to poor expense control?. The focus of the elaborate plans seem to be on numbers and percentage increases without specific explanation of why costs are exceeding inflation by such large amounts. For example why is the water utility charge increasing by 12.55% ? You note that well #5 is being replaced but do not indicate if this accounts for the increase or not. The overall impression is that you are spending a lot of time and money on producing elaborate plans instead of focusing on getting the job done. For example, why can you not fix the paving on Thrift Ave between Best and Findlay? It has been a washboard for years despite or because of the existence of your so called road maintenance department in Engineering. The good news is you are not planning to change the police force so we are at least avoiding those costs. Now we can say that our tax increases are less than Surrey so we should be thankful for small mercies.

Craig Curtis about 1 year ago

Megan, we elected you to solve this very problem. Make us proud- Please take the lead and don't do what the other municipalities have done. Trim the fat, ask each department to cut costs a mere 4% this will keep the tax increase to less 5.5%.

Hs@050565 about 1 year ago

Please trim the fat rather than just continue to pass on these higher costs. I believe you could get each department to decrease their budget by a mere 4% to keep the increase to less 5.5%. Be better than the other municipalities and show restraint in these tough times. Megan we are watching and trusting you on this one. It was why your were elected. Good Luck!

D Hadley about 1 year ago

Good day. Specifically what costs justify the 11.4% increase in municipal operations. Who is getting earnings increases?

BobbyD about 1 year ago

Taxpayers want LESS Govt not more. You have too many employees who are overpaid for what they provide in utility especially at City hall level. Clean house as no one needs most of these positions.
The Mayor ran on fiscal responsabilty Get the increases down to 3% or prepare for pressure from your base,

JL Gray about 1 year ago

I'm tired of Gov't misspending and mismanagement of funds. It seems the answer is to just keep taxing the people more! With all the other increases that people are forced to pay, where is the breaking point where we are forced to sell and move because people cant afford their homes anymore? It's hard to live and keep up with all the interest increases, mortgage payments, gas, food, utility, service, ie plumbers, electricians, increases never mind another 9% property tax increase I DISAGREE with your INCREASE. With all the High rise buildings and new homes being built some commercial as well, I would suspect there is a huge increase in your tax base already. How is that money being managed? I have been on many committees and funny when they have a budget they always make sure they spend it to in order to get their budget in the following year. If I ran my house hold like that I would be in foreclosure. Unfortunately I can't go to my boss and just say hey things are costing more I want more money. So maybe the city should learn to work with what they have and stop the over spending.

Tax Tax about 1 year ago

An 11.44% increase in Municipal Operations seems too high! What is costing so much more next year? Please, where can I find this answer?? I was expecting a tax increase of perhaps around 5%!

Gayle Greveling about 1 year ago
Page last updated: 17 Mar 2023, 07:31 PM