On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, the City of Pitt Meadows put out a media release sharing that Council approved the 2025 budget (*see breakdown of property tax and utility fees increase at pittmeadows.ca/budget-2025 or at the bottom of this page).
On Wednesday, December 11, the Maple Ridge News published a story, “Pitt Meadows budget brings 9.13 per cent hike in taxes/utilities.”
As per the above local news story, residents and the general public continue to see media stories focus on the percentage increase of property taxes from other cities in the lower mainland and across our Province. It is important to note that many of these stories either exclude utility fees from their increase or present them separately (the story above combines our City’s property tax increase percentage and utility fees increase together to make 9.13 per cent).
The City does not feel that percentages are equitable comparables, and prefers to inform on what residents will pay monthly and/or annually (the actual dollar amount that will be paid). This approach offers a clearer, more comparable financial measure to the taxpayer. See our media release.
For example, the City of Vancouver’s recent news release indicated a 3.9 per cent property tax increase and 18.2 per cent utilities increase, for a combined increase of approximately 9.0 per cent in 2025. In dollar terms, Vancouver’s property tax and utility fee increases result in an additional $149 for property taxes and $386 for utility fees, which equates to a combined annual increase of $535 to the average single-family home.
In comparison, the City of Pitt Meadows’ combined increase of property taxes and utility fees is $411 in 2025 ($197 in utility fees and $214 in property taxes)—therefore resulting in the average single-family home in Vancouver to pay approximately $124 more than in Pitt Meadows.
This is why the City prefers to inform on the dollar amount increase, as opposed to the percentage increase for our property taxes and utility fees. The example demonstrates how the use of percentages can be misleading to the general public, since it does not clearly communicate the actual financial impact to the taxpayer in terms of the total dollars that are paid. Rather, the use of percentages may lead residents to believe that the higher percentage is automatically a higher cost for them to pay, compared to other cities—which is not necessarily true.
For this reason, the City’s Financial Overview presentation focused on the dollar impact to the taxpayer.
We hope this information is helpful and validates to our residents that the more meaningful financial unit measure is the dollar amount rather than just comparing the percentage increases.
Using the average assessed value approach, the City’s property taxes continue to be favourable compared to other municipalities in the region. As reported during the 2025 Business Planning presentations, in 2024, the City was the lowest for property taxes and the second lowest when combined with utilities (see table A, below), and is projected to be similar in 2025.
To learn more about the 2025 budget and what is included in the City’s department business plans, visit pittmeadows.ca/budget-2025.
For more information, email info@pittmeadows.ca.
Quotes
Mayor Nicole MacDonald:
“We worked diligently to endorse a responsible budget that ensures residents are getting the best value for their money. Despite several external costs beyond our control that increase taxes, we have approved a budget that maintains service levels in the midst of rising costs, while investing in the services and infrastructure our residents depend on and enjoy.”
Chief Financial Officer Laura Barroetavena:
“The 2025 budget prioritizes public safety, sustainability, community essentials, and working towards future infrastructure needs. These will be met by annual contributions to the asset reserve savings which considers inflation, completion of new assets and the rising cost of living. There is significant uncontrollable cost increases payable to Metro Vancouver mainly related to the replacement of the North Shore Waste Water Treatment Plant, which is included in the utility fees. Throughout the Business Planning process, multiple budget reviews were completed resulting in $900,000 net reductions from the first iteration to arrive at the approved budget that maintains service levels and minimizes the impact to our taxpayers.”
* The City’s 2025 budget of $59.7 million includes a property tax and utility fees increase of $34 per month or $411 per year. The $411 increase is broken down as follows:
| Property Taxes | Amount ($) |
| Asset Management Savings | $63 |
| Contracted Services - RCMP, FVRL | 57 |
| Municipal Costs | 64 |
| Council Approved Initiatives | 30 |
| Total Property Taxes | $214 |
| Utility Fees | Amount ($) |
| Asset Management Savings | $26 |
| Municipal Costs | 53 |
| Subtotal - City Costs | $79 |
| Add Metro Vancouver Sewer & Water | 118 |
| Total Utilities | $197 |
Note: Utility fees are included in Pitt Meadows residents’ property taxes received annually in June. Many municipalities in the region collect utility fees at different times of the year from their property tax collections. The majority of costs included within utility fees are uncontrolled by the City, such as Metro Vancouver’s sewer and water costs.