Vancouver mayor says ‘zero means zero’; Critics warn freezing property taxes will mean service cuts

Vancouver City Council has approved Mayor Ken Sim’s “Zero Means Zero” motion, designed to freeze property tax from increasing at all in 2026.

Mayor Sim introduced his “Zero Means Zero” motion to city council Wednesday morning.

As the motion has passed, council will direct city staff to prepare Vancouver’s 2026 operating budget based on a zero per cent property tax increase, with a commitment to “exploring every option to reduce the burden on taxpayers, control spending, and deliver a balanced operating budget.”

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However, it does take a few things off the table — core city services, community grants, and library and community centre services.

Supporters of the motion, such as the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBT), say that the freeze will help businesses after inflationary pressures, increasing payroll costs, and the lingering impact of the trade war with the U.S.

“We were saying to city council that while we are in support of this motion and great to see 0 per cent increase, we need them to have a longer-term view,” said GVBT CEO Bridgitte Anderson.

“We recommended that they aim for a multi-year plan where increases are capped at the lesser of inflation or 4 per cent. Business certainty is everything right now.”

Critics, on the other hand, have suggested a freeze on property tax increases is not possible without substantial cuts to public services, pointing to a spring staff report that predicted a five-to-seven per cent increase would be needed in 2026 to help maintain existing service levels.

Critics share concerns

Coun. Pete Fry says that staff and Vancouverites who rely on city services are anxious about potential cuts.

“I think it’s irresponsible,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.

He criticizes Mayor Sim and the city manager for how they proceed with the motion.

“We heard loud and clear from the city manager that the timeline to deliver on this [motion] is very tight. So tight in the fact that we can not have a transparent reckoning of what kind of sacrifices and cuts would be involved in this 0 per cent budget,” he explained.

“Frankly, it’s not a good way to proceed on this kind of very serious endeavor when we’re talking about a city’s budget.”

Some city hall watchers believe that finding big savings will be tough, and that Sim and his ABC-dominated council should focus more on increasing revenue from other sources.

“One thing they’ve mentioned is increasing various user fees, maybe for parks and certainly for parking,” said Tom Davidoff, an associate professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

“There’s plenty of room to increase revenues there. Residential parking permits are grossly under-priced, and you could certainly make money on that. Otherwise, they are going to have to cut city services,” Davidoff told 1130 NewsRadio.

“I’m sure there is some fat that can be trimmed here and there, but probably the big money has been saved. Any government wants to cut property taxes and, if they haven’t done it yet, then they are probably getting into the harder cuts that get into reduced livability or reduced cleanliness.”

Davidoff believes that property tax rates have been increasing at an unsustainable level, but reigning in those increases may come with tough political choices.

“There are ways to raise revenue, but, of course, none of them are popular, or else they would have already been implemented.”

With files from Jan Schuermann and Raynaldo Suarez.