Property owners in Port Coquitlam should get ready for a 3.47% lift to their municipal taxes and utilities this year.
Yesterday (Tuesday), city council unanimously voted for the hike that will see owners in the average:
• single-family home (assessed at $990,514) pay a combined $39.20 more;
• townhouse (assessed at $710,328) pay a combined $112.87 more;
• and apartment (assessed at $465,179) pay a combined $105.37 more.
The 2.99% increase for the tax portion alone — applied to all property classes — is more than double last year’s rise; however, it is one of the lowest tax hikes among Metro Vancouver municipalities, said Brad West who described this year’s budget as “back to basics.”
The adopted financial plan focuses on “giving TCL to a number of neighbourhoods in Port Coquitlam” by providing road and sewer updates and new lighting, West said at last week’s special council meeting.
And he said the budget also addresses a topic that came up during the spring community consultation: cleanliness (the city received 706 responses — up 200 from last year — to its call for budget feedback).
Other budget highlights are: two more Mounties for the detachment PoCo shares with Coquitlam; wayfinding and parking signs for downtown; and a visual and audio system for the Remembrance Day ceremony.
But while the 2.99% accounts for a 1% increase for the PoCo recreation complex rebuild and another 1% for infrastructure, residents will still need to shell out an extra $25 fee for each parcel they own, for the $132-million rec centre construction project.
Property tax bills will be mailed out this month, with payments due July 2. A 5% penalty is added after that date; a further 5% is applied after Aug. 15.
Utility bills were due last month.
