2025 Budget Information

In British Columbia, municipalities are required by the Province of BC to finalize their budgets before May 15 of each year. Creating a municipal budget is a balancing act between the community’s wants and needs and costs to the taxpayer.

The City’s 2025 budget development process is underway. At various public Council and Committee of the Whole meetings over the past few months, Council has reviewed and analyzed the individual department budgets for the City. Residents are invited to attend an upcoming meeting to follow along:

*All meetings take place at City Hall, 200 Craig Street

The agendas for the Committee of the Whole meetings are posted here in advance of each meeting.

What are City Council's spending priorities for 2025?

In 2025, the City’s budget includes a proposed tax increase of 11.3%, of which 11% is due to mandatory policing costs. The proposed 11.3% tax increase translates to an estimated additional $214/year for homeowners with a residential property valued at the 2025 average of $585,448.

The table below summarizes the tax increases included in the City’s draft 2025 budget:

There is a detailed breakdown of the items included in the 2025 budget further below on this page.

If you would like to read more about the proposed budget, please review the reports contained in the November 1, 2024 and November 15, 2024 Committee of the Whole meetings.

Why are policing costs going up?

In British Columbia, the provincial government is responsible for providing policing and law enforcement to municipalities with a population of under 5,000. In 2021, the City’s population surpassed 5,000. Under the BC Police Act, this required the City to pay for 70% of its policing costs starting in 2022, with the federal government paying the remaining 30%.

With this change, the City was required to negotiate with the provincial government to determine how many police officers it would be required to fund. Based on the number of calls for service in this area, the provincial government required the City to fund eight officers in 2022, increasing by one officer each year until reaching 12 officers in 2026. This means that the City will have larger-than-usual tax increases until at least 2026.

The City must also contribute proportionally to the operating costs of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment building, administration, and equipment.

The table below illustrates how the City’s policing costs are distributed:

What else is included in the 2025 budget?

A 0.85% increase has been drafted to address inflation and increased operating costs. Inflation requires an increase in taxes, just to keep paying for general maintenance budgets. During the last year we have seen higher than average cost increases on items such as fuel, equipment repairs, and materials used for street and traffic maintenance.

The City's budget increase would be greater if it were not for simultaneous cost-savings due to the final transition to regional recreation, in which costs for 9 regionally significant recreation facilities are now funded based on usage. This change to the funding model reduced Duncan's tax collection by approximately 2% for the 2025 year.

A 1.75% increase has been drafted to address capital asset management and replacement. Municipal assets are publicly owned infrastructure that municipalities are responsible for managing, such as roads, water pipes, parks, sewage collection systems, vehicle and equipment fleets, and more. If taxes are not increased each year to account for inflation, the City would have to reduce maintenance budgets or defer major capital works. This could result in the failure of an asset, which then would require higher future taxes to pay for emergency repairs or replacement. Eventually the deferred major capital works must be done, which would again result in higher future taxes to do the works that should have been done.

2.31% of additional tax revenue is a result of new construction within city limits. New construction increases property tax revenues by expanding the tax base and adding new properties to the tax roll. As more valuable properties are built, the City receives additional funds that help support public services and infrastructure.

If the property tax increase is 11.3%, will my property taxes go up by 11.3%?

An increase or decrease in your property assessment does not mean your taxes will automatically go up or down by the same amount.

In January each year, property assessment notices are mailed to property owners throughout the province from BC Assessment, an independent agency created by the Provincial Government for the purpose of valuing all properties in BC for taxation purposes. Your assessment notice estimates the market value of your property as of July 1st of the previous year.

Properties that increase in value by the same percentage as the average property will experience a tax increase at the same rate as the overall tax increase set by City Council. Properties that increase or decrease in value by more or less the average will experience changes in their taxes that are more or less than the average increase. Watch this short video from BC Assessment to learn more.

Where does the City get its revenue?

46% of the City’s revenue comes from taxation, and 32% comes from water and sewer user fees. The remaining revenue comes from government transfers (8%), sales of services (7%), investments (2%), funds from other governments and grants in lieu of taxes (0.4%), and other revenue own sources (5%).

Other revenue own sources (5%) includes:

• Business and dog licences,
• Building and related permits,
• Real Estate rentals,
• Parking permits, and
• Land use alteration fees.

What services does the City provide?

Your municipal tax dollars pay for many projects and services:

• Water,
• Sewer,
• Garbage, Recycling, Organics, Glass & Yard Waste Collection,
• Road Maintenance and Repair, Snow Removal,
• Sidewalks, Curbs, Gutters,
• Storm Water Drainage,
• Street Lighting,
• Parks & Recreation,
• Fire Protection and Inspections,
• Police Protection,
• Bylaw Enforcement, and
• Building & Development Permits and Inspections.

What services are NOT delivered by the City?

• Education - Province of BC,
• Healthcare - Province of BC,
• Highways - Province of BC,
• Ferry Service - Province of BC,
• Library - Vancouver Island Regional Library,
• Public Transit - BC Transit,
• Housing - Province of BC.

Expenses by Function

What are the major changes in the 2025 budget compared to 2024?
The increase is comprised of the following changes:

How to read your property tax bill

Property tax bills are mailed out every year in June and taxes are legislatively required to be paid on July 2nd of each year.

Approximately 55% of the money collected through local taxes goes to the City of Duncan, and 45% goes to these other governments and agencies:

• School District 79 (Province of BC)
• Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD)
• Cowichan Hospital District
• BC Assessment Authority
• Municipal Finance Authority

• For some business property owners, the City collects levies on behalf of the Downtown Duncan Business Improvement Area (DDBIA)

The City collects taxes on behalf of these bodies, but does not set their rates or control their dollar amounts.

In addition, most property tax bills include the annual sewer charges for efficiency (mailing one bill rather than two), although sewer charges are user fees not taxes.

For further information about property taxes, please contact Bernice Crossman at City Hall in-person at 200 Craig Street, by phone (250-746-6126), or by email (bernice@duncan.ca).