Vancouver budget report goes to council

Vancouver city councillors are expected to review on Tuesday a budget report which outlines 17 recommendations on how city hall could operate more efficiently.

The report recommendations, put together by the Vancouver Budget Task Force, fall under three themes: refocusing the city’s role, financial efficiency, and maximizing Vancouver’s capital assets.

Reducing absenteeism, leveraging technology, and privatizing some assets are among the proposals being made to city council, to help save some money.

Consultant Randy Pratt, the chair of the task force, is pushing back against suggestions that proposals could mean selling off city assets like parks, or cutting social initiatives like overdose response or housing.

He says you can’t bridge funding gaps by not dealing with the needs of the city’s most vulnerable populations.

“In fact, it’s the opposite. I think there’s, in the report, a recommendation on social housing, that there’s tremendous opportunity to improve the efficiency, get more housing, improve the density of it,” he said during a technical briefing Tuesday morning.

Pratt says the report highlights the benefits of finding more uses of non-core assets.

“There’s assets that I don’t think a lot of residents understand the city has. Rights of way, conduit, they have fibre optic capacity that’s unutilized, they have unleased office space,” he explained.

He calls the report a “framework” for Mayor Ken Sim and council, adding it is up to elected officials to consider how they want to define their core mandate and better fund priorities through things like private sponsorships or naming rights.

Pratt assures there will be a proper process for such options.

“We’re not going to name it after oil companies or military suppliers, but there’s lots of wonderful companies out there that could put their name on, you know, a recreational facility,” Pratt said.

Addressing deficit and expansion of responsibilities

Sim announced the task force in April 2023, saying it would identify inefficiencies and revenue opportunities. The Vancouver Park Board, Public Library, and Vancouver Police Department were not part of the review, which came after a 10.7 per cent property tax increase.

The report says the city is facing two urgent challenges: a $500-million annual infrastructure funding deficit, despite unsustainable property taxes, and a significant expansion to the city’s responsibilities.

The recommendations fall under three themes: refocusing the city’s role, financial efficiency, and maximizing Vancouver’s capital assets.

However, some have been skeptical about the report. OneCity Vancouver councillor Christine Boyle previously said the recommendations range from cliché and comical, to concerning.

Some of the proposals, she added, are “not new or earth-shattering ideas.”

-With files from Monika Gul