Spectre of 10% tax hike sends Vancouver council cutting

Vancouver city councillors have told managers they need to slash costs to avoid an unprecedented property tax hike in this year's budget that could hit 10 per cent.

A draft budget shows a property tax hike of six per cent would be needed to maintain current service levels.

The economic downturn is adding extra pressure to cut costs or hike taxes. Revenue from development permits, for example, has been plunging.

In addition, council is planning to shift part of the tax burden from businesses to homeowners.

It all adds up to a potential tax increase for homeowners of more than 10 per cent, unless costs are cut, say staff and councillors.

Coun. Raymond Louie said council decided at Tuesday night's meeting to instruct the city manager to implement a freeze on hiring and pay increases, encourage early retirements and cut down on the city's use of outside consultants.

Council will also seek public input before the budget is finalized in April.

But Coun. David Cadman said it will be a struggle to avoid cuts to services.

"It's going to be very, very hard without cutting into services. Of course we'll wait and see what the surveys say. I think people want the services, but it's going to be hard," said Cadman.

Olympic Village minutes to be released

Meanwhile, the public may soon get a look at minutes from the closed-door meetings that led to the controversial Olympic Village bailout. Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to release the documents.

The city's legal department will go over the documents to see if anything must be kept confidential but Non Partisan Association Coun. Suzanne Anton, who put the motion forward, said she expects the vast majority of the minutes will be released within a few days.

"There's been a lot of discussion over the last few months over who said what to whom and when and there's really no reason now that all of the reports and decisions should not be public," said Anton.

"People will be able to look at that. They'll be able to see who was in the room, what decisions were made, and why they made them."

The controversy over the nearly billion-dollar Olympic Village development has been simmering since the city's plan to bail out the project was leaked during the municipal election campaign last fall.

Many believe the deal led to the near decimation of the ruling NPA in the election, even though Vision Vancouver councillors also voted in favour of the bailout.

Vision Coun. Raymond Louie said the new council has already become more transparent.

"There's a marked difference between this council and last where there was very little information put forward, and this council is trying its best to provide further information," said Louie.