Frequently Asked Questions

Municipalities are required by the Provincial legislation to balance their budgets, which means that all budgeted expenditures must have revenues in place to cover them.

After looking at all other sources of revenue, the cost of providing the desired services must be balanced with a tax increase that the community can afford at any one time.

The operating budget funds the ongoing operations of assets residents and businesses use, such as streets, parks, trails and cultural and recreational programs, and provides services such as police and fire. The majority of costs are wage-related, along with operating costs for  District of West Vancouver facilities.

West Vancouver’s challenging geography impacts the cost of essential services compared to other municipalities.

After accounting for all other revenues, the cost of these services is funded through property taxes.

West Vancouver, like almost every municipality in Canada, has ageing infrastructure that requires a long-term plan and financial resources to repair, maintain, and replace assets. This includes everything from community centres and the Seawalk to park benches, streets, and sidewalks.

The capital budget provides funds for maintenance and replacement of infrastructure, such as roads, District facilities, and parks and trails.

Capital projects are prioritized by Council and outlined in their Strategic Plan. The majority of capital projects are funded by the Asset Levy.

The District’s consolidated budget is made up of the individual budget of various funds. Each fund is a stand-alone business entity that engages in specific service activities and has its own particular revenues, expenditures, reserves and capital program. Each fund also has its own particular approach to budgeting and rate setting.

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Capital budgeting is a long-term planning process, aligned with the District’s asset management plan. It starts with a comprehensive review and analysis of all existing District’s capital assets, projecting maintenance and replacement costs over a 20-year period, ensuring our capital assets remain at their optimal level. 

This annual asset management groundwork forms the basis for capital budget requests.

The focus of the 2025 Budget is on:

• Restoring the asset reserves to keep the current District's assets at their optimal levels;
• Improving the delivery of core services to the residents and businesses within the District;
• Aligning the budget with Council's strategic priorities; and
• Maintaining the District's long-term fiscal sustainability and resilience.

The budget process, and the decisions that must be made on how to best lead the development of a safe, vibrant and sustainable city, are supported by the following plans: 

• Official Community Plan
• Asset Management Plan
• Council Strategic Plan

The additional school tax is provincial tax. It goes to the Province into general revenue for school purposes. The tax is assessed on residential properties valued over $3M. 

School tax - Province of British Columbia

The Environment Reserve is established by bylaw with specific uses for how it can be spent such as adaptation and mitigation in relation to climate change. Please refer to Environmental Reserve Fund Bylaw Part 4.1 "Use of the Fund" for eligible programs.

The District has six bargaining units on different contracts. The term of the contracts can vary from one year to three years. In general the contracts run for three years.

The District benefits from volunteers, with many volunteer groups contributing commendable work within the community. However, their tasks often differ from those handled by District staff, particularly in specialized areas like Finance, Planning, and Engineering. Moreover, managing volunteers necessitates additional staff effort.

The District labour costs are determined by the annual labour model, which is a position driven financial model covering the base salary and fringe benefits for each position. The job duty and responsibility define the pay grid for each position. 

The fringe benefits supplement an employee's salary in addition to their normal wage. For the District, what is included in fringe benefits are provincially or federally required payments such as EI, CPP, WCB and the health tax in addition to items that are negotiated into the collective agreements such as extended medical/dental and life insurance.

Besides property taxes, investment income and building permits are the other major sources of revenue. The District focuses on revenue generation and starting in early 2024, pay parking at three destination parks was implemented. 

Each year the District strives to achieve a structurally balanced budget that supports financial sustainability. This means that recurring revenues are used to fund recurring expenditures in the budget. The interest revenue is carefully considered based on economic outlook and strategic cash flow management to ensure that amount can be maintained for multiple years into the future.

The difference between available revenue and expenses is then balanced by the additional property tax.

"Other Revenue" includes administration fees from TransLink and Utilities for recovering staff labour costs in administrating these programs, interest on investments, District facility rental and lease revenues, and tax penalties and interest.

The Utilities are each funded by their own separate rates, and not by property taxes. Over 48% of the District’s utility fees are regional fees used to support the purchase of drinking water and treatment of sanitary sewerage. These services are provided by Metro Vancouver. Local costs include the District’s utility operations, infrastructure, and reserves.

The assets pertaining to the Utility Funds (Water, Sewer and Solid Waste) are funded from user rates and not the Asset Levy.

The District manages and operates the Blue Bus under a contract with TransLink. TransLink covers all of the costs related to the Blue Bus so it does not affect the tax rate.