As a tariff war looms over Canada and inflation continues to impact municipalities across the nation, Saanich is preparing to tighten its belt for the coming year.
“This council will use every tool in [its] toolbox to ensure that we're protecting local businesses, local working people and their families during this very challenging time,” said Mayor Dean Murdock.
Saanich council is working on the 2025 budget, with a goal to keep the tax increase below eight per cent.
In their report, staff cited the increasing costs of labour, additional services and new initiatives as the primary cost driver for this year’s budget.
As the municipality sought to lower its initial 8.84 per cent hike, staff presented council with a cost reduction scenario cutting $1.6 million, bringing the increase down to 7.94 per cent.
The 8.84 per cent forecast would include a $328 increase for the average Saanich taxpayer.
Additional municipal taxes and utilities, including sewer, water and garbage collection services, homeowners are projected to pay about $550 more in 2025.
Saanich’s draft 2025 budget totals $535.8 million, with $227 million allocated to the municipality’s operating budget, $199.8 million for its capital budget, and $114 million for sewer and water services.
The proposed $1.64 million budget reduction – equivalent to one per cent of the proposed tax increase - consists of delaying asset funding ($614,000), deferring parkland acquisition ($300,000), and reducing the police budget ($160,000), among other measures.
This year, the police budget will see the largest increase, accounting for 29 per cent of the pie, followed by municipal labour at 24 per cent and capital infrastructure at 21 per cent.
Last December, Saanich Police Chief Dean Duthie presented the force’s $52-million budget to council – marking an 11 per cent increase, or $5.2 million, over 2024.
He stated then that any cuts to their budget would result in the loss of ‘critical’ positions.
This $160,000-reduction, Duthie argued, would prevent the hiring of two new constables for the mental health co-response team.
He believes this would not only ease the burden on police officers by addressing mental health-related calls but also allow them to focus on their core duties and ultimately save the municipality money in the long run.
“Officers are currently spending an enormous amount of time in hospital weight rooms with apprehended mental health people,” said Duthie. “Our partners in the Victoria Police Department and the West Shore RCMP who have stood up this exact team have noticed a dramatic difference in terms of calls that have been managed by the co-response mental health team that were no longer requiring patrol assistance.”
Supporting Duthie's stance, Coun. Nathalie Chambers opposed the police budget cut.
“This is absolutely not OK with me,” she said. “We don't want to deliver a criminal response for our mental health situation."
“The appropriate policing is within our control as councillors and… we have the opportunity here to fund a resource that will in fact give an integrated response rather than sending a criminal response for a mental health issue.”
The final version of Saanich’s municipal draft budget will be submitted to the district next month.
