If West Vancouver district staff has been working overtime on the five-year financial plan, they'd better stop.
The 2014 budget is lean and mean, projecting no surplus and allowing employee overtime only when absolutely necessary.
Council voted unanimously to give the budget third reading Monday, but at least one councillor may not offer his approval when the plan returns for debate Feb. 3.
"I can't support this. There's no meat," said Coun. Michael Lewis.
The budget calls for a 2.92 per cent property tax increase. That increase could jump to nearly five per cent by 2015, according to chief financial officer Michael Koke.
The rate is a departure from district norms, where the last four budgets have called for a zero per cent property tax increase.
"Reality's come home to roost," Lewis said.
The property tax spike is attributable to the stagnancy in property assessments, according to Lewis.
"If the assessment roll had grown as it has traditionally, no tax increase would have been almost a no-brainer," he said.
The district may need to take a harder look at its services, according to Lewis. West Vancouver's recent core service review met "minimal expectations," he said.
Depending on the voices of the community and the votes of council, programs and services may have to be cut, according to chief administrative officer Nina Leemhuis.
"We'll be bringing forward a long-term financial plan recognizing that currently the bucket is only so big and certain things are going to have to fall off the plate," she said.
The budget is too vague, according to Lewis.
"There's no goals, there's no objectives, there's no start date, there's no end date," he said. "I need to have some deliverables. Something other than saying a 2.9 per cent tax increase."
The 2014 budget defers approximately $6.7 million in funds for capital expenses to 2015, which puzzled Coun. Craig Cameron.
"I don't know what's happening in 2015 but unless we're winning the lottery I can't see how we're going to be able to do that," he said, asking if "accounting magic" was involved.
"I wish there was some sort of accounting magic," Koke said. "We've had to make some tough decisions."
The 2014 budget for capital funding is approximately $9.8 million.
The district keeps a close eye on its purse strings when it comes to new hires, according to Leemhuis. Whenever there's a vacancy, the district undertakes "an extremely rigorous process" to review the feasibility of eliminating the position or assigning duties to another department, according to Leemhuis.
The district has also cut costs online.
"We have just spent $125,000 updating our website, and I understand that we have not renewed the contract position to maintain that website," Coun. Mary-Ann Booth said.
West Vancouver is expecting to earn $3.8 million through inspection permits, an increase of 16 per cent from 2013.
The district's miscellaneous budget is up by 27 per cent in 2014.
