Editor's note Nov. 9: Due to a power outage, the original date for the Budget Open House was cancelled. The new date for the meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Brennan Park Recreation Centre.
—Original story—
The 2025-2029 draft budget is headed to the Budget Open House for public comment.
Here is everything you need to know about next year's property tax increases.
How much could your property tax increase by?
Squamish property owners could see a 9.6% jump in taxes in 2025 to meet the District’s total revenue requirement of $46,934,788.
That is roughly $250 per average residential property in 2025.
Exact property tax amounts are determined by local government figures and based on the assessment value of your property.
The tax impact is projected to be, on average 10.5% annually for 2025 to 2029, once non-market change (the addition or removal of taxpayers) is factored in.
The overall tax increase does not represent the individual rates that people will receive. That has yet to be determined by council, as they divvy up how much each sector—residential, commercial and industrial—will pay toward the bill.
A breakdown of the figures
So how did the District end up with a figure of 9.6%?
The budget is made up of a few different categories, including pre-committed changes, service level changes and special operating projects.
According to the draft budget, pre-committed changes are described as “items that are commitments as a result of prior council financial planning decisions.”
In 2025, the total pre-committed costs change is $2.9 million, “which represents a 6.8% tax impact and approximately $177 to the average residential ratepayer.”
Some notable changes include $695,000 for police services increases, $74,000 for transit increases, and $771,000 for labour and benefits contract increases.
Service level changes are additional operating costs added to the base operating budget.
These relate to community growth, resources to maintain existing services, as well as the fire department or transit expansions.
Tax-funded service level changes recommended for 2025 equate to “$1.27 million” or “$77 for the average residential taxpayer.”
Special operating projects are known as cost changes associated with “one-time, limited funding or non-recurring projects outside of the District’s regular service operations.”
For 2025, the District’s special operating project spending is $6.4 million, of which $210,000 is funded from taxation.
There will be two externally funded special operating projects across the five years: Woodfibre LNG/Fortis Eagle Mountain Gas Pipeline and the Squamish Housing Action Plan Implementation.
Both projects collectively will provide $4.5 million in external funding to the District. This will allow Woodfibre LNG and Fortis BC to have a project department to administer regulatory requirements and support District communication efforts; and for Housing Squamish to boost affordable housing developments.
A $300,000 major public art piece purchase is also listed in the budget which is described as something that will "enhance a public space through the addition of a piece of Coast Salish Public Art."
"This project works towards Truth and Reconciliation by adding Coast Salish artwork within the community," reads the draft budget.
New capital project additions
Also in the budget is a list of new projects added during the 2025 to 2029 financial planning cycle.
Some new projects on the way include:
- Squamish Search and Rescue relocation to Squamish Airport-Don Patrick Field ($1.5 million)
- Fleet public works: a new bike lane sweeper with snow and ice control ($246,000)
- Downtown paid parking implementation ($600,000)
- Finch road reconstruction ($1.8 million)
Council comments
Council voted unanimously to proceed with the Budget Open House on Nov. 7 to gather the public’s feedback on the draft budget.
Coun. Chris Pettingill raised concerns over a few items in the budget but overall endorsed heading to the open house to hear the public’s opinion.
“There are a few things [in this budget] that I’m not quite comfortable with but I want to hear from the public for one before I make any more changes,” Pettingill said.
“In general, Squamish has gentrified, and we are overall, compared to much of B.C. and Canada, a very affluent place overall. Again generalizing here but realistically, if you’re living in Squamish and have a high mortgage or a high rent and trouble parking with your garage full of toys and so on, overall, we are in a pretty fortunate position,” he said.
“I think in that context and in terms of what many people in our country are struggling with to just get a roof over their house, I’m fairly comfortable with what we see for this year as an overall picture. I think supporting things like transit and the library … makes a lot of sense.
He noted that the jump in tax might come as a bit of a surprise for locals.
“We have been, in my analysis, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage in the bottom third of B.C. communities for tax increases over the last many years. Now we are sort of hitting the average, and it’s a bit of a shock,” he said.
Coun. Andrew Hamilton, who raised a motion to remove the $1.3 million allocated for the Public Works Facility from the 2026 budget—that was not endorsed by council— also had a few question marks on the budget as a whole.
“I will be supporting the motion on the floor; as you know from my motion on the extended funding of the public works building, I’m not completely in alignment with everything that appears on the budget, but I do see staff has done a lot of work,” Hamilton said.
“I really want to encourage the public to come and talk to us … particularly if there is a line item, if there is something that you don’t see of value to you, or you don’t think that’s how we should be spending money on that, please let us know.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean it comes out, but we need to understand where our communities’ priorities are, and it’s through the community communicating with us that we understand that.”
Mayor Armand Hurford said he also hopes that the community can come out and engage with council members to share any concerns they might have over the budget.
“I think nearly every conversation that I have with the community is a budget conversation when I boil it right down to the topic. This budget represents the compiling of all those conversation, whether they’re individually to council or the community participating in one of our many engagement activities,” Hurford said.
“I look forward to speaking with the community about where we’ve landed and the compromises that we’ve made inside the draft budget as it sits and any potential re-prioritizations that should occur between here and readings.”
The Budget Open House will be held on Nov. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Brennan Park Recreation Centre.
For more information on the 2025-2029 draft budget, visit the District of Squamish website.
