Port Moody taxpayers could get a break after all.
At its meeting Tuesday, city council decided to walk back a decision it had made in finance committee April 7 to move forward on the 3.62% increase in property taxes that was recommended by staff and would have maintained service levels as they were in 2019.
But facing growing concerns from residents enduring financial hardships because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as pressures from other municipalities paring their budgets, council tasked staff to craft a list of potential expenses that could be cut to create a tax savings of approximately 1.5%. That list would then be reviewed by council’s finance committee next week in order to craft a final budget in time for the provincially-mandated deadline of May 15.
Port Moody’s chief financial officer, Paul Rockwood, said a 1.5% reduction would mean cutting about $650,000 from the city’s budget. He added there will also be a significant decrease in revenues that needs to be factored in as well.
And that will cause some pain, city manager Tim Savoie added.
“This would mean service-level cuts, absolutely, positively,” he said.
But Mayor Rob Vagramov said the catastrophic financial fallout of the pandemic behooves the city to at least explore ways it could lessen the tax burden on Port Moody residents.
“The status quo is not the way forward.”
Coun. Steve Milani agreed, pointing out Port Coquitlam and Langley recently slashed their planned property tax increases, the former to 0%.
“I believe the City of Port Moody has to do all it can to support its residents in these difficult times,” he said.
Some councillors, however, feared that support could come at the expense of city workers.
“I want to make it clear layoffs do not equate to budget decreases,” Coun. Meghan Lahti said.
Coquitlam announced last Thursday it’s laying off about 800 auxiliary employees, many of them in the city’s recreation facilities and programs. Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley speculated on Tuesday his city could shed more than 1,000 staff — about a quarter of its payroll.
Angie Parnell, Port Moody’s general manager of corporate services, told council the city’s unionized workers have “a great deal of anxiety and concern around what is happening,” adding she’s had regular discussions with the human resources departments of neighbouring communities.
As yet, no city workers in Port Moody have lost their job, Savoie told The Tri-City News, although some have had their duties modified or been reassigned to help out at its emergency operations centre.
Coun. Zoe Royer said burdening city workers with additional anxieties over their job security distresses her.
“I know we need significant measures of austerity here, but I want to be respectful,” she said.
Vagramov countered that just because council could learn where it might be able to cut expenses doesn’t mean it will.
“This is for information,” he said of the prioritized list of budget items. “This does not mean we will be cutting.”
