Vernon City Council's regular meeting Monday, April 14 (photo by Liam Verster /Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

9.91% Residential Tax Rate Hike

Vernon tax rates increasing, but not as much as previously estimated

Apr 14, 2025 | 5:03 PM

Vernon City Council approved a tax increase below earlier projections.

At the regular meeting Monday, April 14, Council was presented with two tax rate options.

Council voted in favour of the first option, which would see residential tax rates increase by 9.91 per cent, and business rates increase by 10.39 per cent.

Those changes would translate to an average household paying an additional $227, while businesses would pay an extra $876.

Speaking with Vernon Matters, Mayor Victor Cumming noted the residential tax rate hike was below the previous estimate of an 11 per cent increase, but still accounted for the city’s financial plans.

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“It is exactly what we expected in terms of regular cost increases, and the capital cost of the Active Living Centre, and the union agreements that caused us to have to absorb those additional costs,” Cumming said.

“It’s a great number.”

During the meeting there was some discussion of bringing the residential rate up to $230 so the business rate increase would only be $847, but council ultimately decided to go with the first option.

“It’s a balancing act, the two [options] are very, very close together and it was just a matter of trying to pick the right one,” Cumming told Vernon Matters.

“About 85 per cent of our taxes is residential, so we picked the number there that matches. It’s very close.”

The Mayor added it’s important that municipalities have a balanced budget.

“Decisions that have been made earlier to have the Active Living Centre comes with a cost profile that we’re fully aware of,” Cumming said.

“So setting the tax rate fully covers all the expected costs, and that rate will cover all expected costs in 2025. We have some reserves that we built up over time that gives us a little bit of an operating cushion, but very little.

“That’s just how municipalities run, we’re not in any position to go and borrow any more money than we can actually finance. So this whole question of rates is a critical thing because it sets then exactly what we’re going to collect, and we already set what we’re going to spend, and those two things have to line up.”

City staff will bring forward a bylaw with the approved tax rate increases for final approval and adoption at the next council meeting.