Annual Budgets
Municipalities must annually prepare a five-year financial plan and adopt tax rates in accordance with the Community Charter (Section 165). The five-year requirement encourages city councils to think strategically and consider the longer-term impacts of current decisions.
The budget process is about balancing the delivery of services and programs (spending) with property taxes, fees and charges, and funds from other sources (revenues) to meet the needs of the community.
2023 approved budget
In 2023, the City is collecting $53,244,000 – approximately $4,500,000 more than last year – in property taxes from residents and businesses to balance the budget. The proposed tax rate increase for the average household is 9.26 per cent. This means in 2023 the average household would see an increase of approximately $242 for the year – that’s $4.65 per week or $0.66 per day.
| What’s driving the budget? |
|
The City is collecting more in property taxes this year to cover rising costs related to factors such as:
Read more about what’s behind the tax rate increase in City staff’s 2023-2027 Draft Five Year Financial Plan report presented to Council at the February 21, 2023 Finance Committee meeting. You can also watch a video recording of the meeting. |
| 2023 budget drivers in detail |
|
What’s driving increases to the budget? The following are the drivers for 2023:
Revenue
Development and construction related application and permit revenues, investment and grant revenue are projected to increase by $1,518,000 (3.13%).
Recreation revenues, digital billboard and transit shelter revenues, and Lease revenues for City-owned facilities are projected to decrease by $389,000 (0.80%).
Salaries and benefits
Salaries and wages have increased by $2,507,000 (5.17%), representing estimated collective agreement increases for all the bargaining units and management.
General benefits have increased by $395,000 (0.81%) for WorkSafe BC premiums, extended health benefits, the employer portion of the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), Employment Insurance (EI), and the Employer Health Tax.
Operating expenses
Operating expenses are increasing by $480,000 (0.99%), representing inflationary increases for operating expenses such as insurance, equipment, contracted services, utilities, legal services, professional services, leases, etc.
Reserve transfers
Transfers to and from reserves are increasing by $1,342,000 (2.77%). This increase is primarily related to the increase in development-related revenues noted above. The 2023 increase for City services is $3,199,000 (6.60%).
Port Moody Police
The Port Moody Police submitted their Provisional Budget in November 2022, and their amended budget on February 21, 2023 which had minor adjustments based on updated information, and represents an increase of $846,000 (1.95%) over 2022 (excluding new position request).
The total operating impact for operations (City and Police) is an increase of $4,145,000 (8.56%) for 2023.
Capital asset levy
The Capital Asset Levy has increased by an estimated 1% or $485,000 to ensure that the Asset Reserve and associated capital envelopes have sufficient funds to renew and replace critical city infrastructure.
Growth stabilization reserve
The Mill and Timber site on the Port Moody waterfront was reclassified from a Class 4 (Heavy Industry) to Class 6 (Business/Other) in 2021, resulting in a significant tax shift for 2021. The City utilized the Growth Stabilization Reserve to smooth the impact over three years. The reserve transfer was reduced by $450,000 in 2023 (year three of three), which represents a 0.93% tax increase. The total before reinstated new service or new funding requirements to meet increasing service demand is a 2023 budget increase of $5,080,000 or 10.49%.
New revenue
2023 Growth or Non-Market Change (NMC) are $700,000 (1.44%). Additionally, the City expects to receive an additional $761,000 from payments in lieu of taxes (PILTs) from the BC Hydro Burrard thermal facility.
Reinstated services
The reinstated services, removed in the 2020 austerity budgets total $249,000 (0.51%) for city and community events.
New positions to meet service demands
Staff have submitted a variety of new positions to meet ongoing service demands across the city. These positions will be phased in over a two-year period (2023-2024). This totals $447,000 (0.93%) in 2023 and represents 8.63 FTEs.
New operating expenses to meet service demands
Staff have submitted a variety of new operating expenses to meet ongoing service demands across the city. This totals $185,000 (0.38%).
The total budget increase, including reinstated new service and new funding requirements to meet increasing service demand is $4,500,000 or 9.26%.
|
View the full 2023-2027 Financial Plan. To learn about the budget process and the City’s proposed expenses for 2023, read our Budget Guide. To understand how your tax dollars are spent as well as how your property taxes are calculated, watch our video.
2023 budget consultation
As they consider the proposed budget, City Council wants to hear from Port Moody residents and business owners. How do you think the City balance service levels and tax rates? What do you think of the proposed funding levels for specific service areas?
Visit Engage Port Moody, our online public engagement hub, to fill out our budget survey today. If you prefer to fill out the survey on paper, you can pick up a copy at City Hall (100 Newport Drive). Your paper survey must be returned to City Hall by Friday, March 17, 2023.
Operating and capital budgets
The City has two types of budget expenses: operating and capital. Our operating budget covers spending related to Port Moody’s day-to-day operations. The City’s capital budget funds larger, longer-term projects, mostly related to maintaining, upgrading, and replacing the City’s infrastructure and facilities.
| 2023-2027 operating budget |
|
Our operating budget covers spending related to the day-to-day operations of City departments. These daily expenses help to keep our streets and homes safe, and ensure that we have clean water running through the taps, garbage and recycling trucks on the road, and recreational and cultural facilities open for the public. Typical examples of operating expenses are:
|
| 2023-2027 capital budget |
|
The City's capital budgets fund larger, long-term projects, mostly related to maintaining, upgrading, and replacing the City's infrastructure and facilities. It's important to make long-term plans for scheduled maintenance and replacement of these valuable, tangible capital assets to ensure they are in place to deliver services. The capital budget works to advance Council’s strategic plan within our long-term financial capacity.
Types of projects funded
|
Budget process schedule
The City has a formal budget process that it follows, scheduling the different phases from the drafting of the budget, through deliberations by the Finance Committee, to public input, to approval by City Council, up to the setting of the tax rates to the final phase of billing and collecting the taxes.
| Typical annual budget schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
• budget guidelines approved by Finance Committee – July • budget packages distributed to departments – July • budgets drafted by departments – July to September • department budget reviews with Finance – September to November • Council deliberations – October to April • public consultation – February • public budget presentations – December to April • Council adopts budget – historically, April and May • tax rates set – prior to May 15 (as per Community Charter) • taxes due on first business day after July 1st (covering costs for services from January 1 to December 31) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 budget schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
See the table below for 2022/2023 milestone dates as well as links to City Council meeting agendas, presentations, and videos.
|
Past budgets
Contact Us