Let’s be honest about your taxes, Vernon

Let’s be honest about your taxes, Vernon. You were promised $12 a year for the Cultural Centre. You’re now paying $85. And that’s just one of the costs already locked into your tax bill.

Every candidate says they’ll be “fiscally responsible.” Saying it is easy. Proving it is harder.

And no one can promise zero tax increases. Some increases are already locked in before the next council even starts.

How your property tax works

Think of it like a pie.

Council decides how big the pie needs to be. That’s the budget, the total money the City needs for the year.

That pie gets split among every property in Vernon, based on what BC Assessment says each one is worth.

Your slice depends on how your home’s value changed compared to everyone else’s. If your value went up more than average, your bill goes up more than the headline number. If it went up less, you pay less than the headline.

Where your money goes

Your tax bill isn’t all City money. Vernon also collects for:

Schools (the province)

The hospital district

The Regional District (RDNO)

BC Assessment

The City’s share pays for police, fire, parks, bylaw, recreation, roads and snow clearing. It also pays the debt on big projects like the Active Living Centre. Sewer and water come on a separate bill. The City collects water on behalf of Greater Vernon Water, an RDNO service.

What’s already locked in:

Active Living Centre (City): This one hits your bill two ways.

1. Paying off the loan

3.5% a year from 2025 to 2027

About 2.8% in 2028

After that, the increases stop, but the cost doesn’t go away. Those increases stay on your bill for 30 years to pay off the $121 million loan, into the 2050s.

2. Running the building

Up to 1.5% a year from 2027 to 2029

That’s on top of the loan payments. Even with new rec fees, the City expects the ALC to cover less than half of its own running costs at first. You make up the rest.

In 2022, we were told running costs would add about 1.3% in total. Now it’s up to about 4.5% over three years.

That’s why every number needs a watchdog.

Infrastructure levy: This money for fixing roads and pipes was paused in 2026. It may come back. In past years it’s usually been 1.9%, but the amount is up to council. Our roads and pipes don’t stop aging while we wait.

Cultural Centre (RDNO): This is a Regional District project, not a City one. You’ll find it in the RDNO portion of your tax bill.

In 2018, voters said yes to borrowing $25 million for a big new building. We were told it would cost the average household about $12 a year. I voted yes too.

Now we’re getting a smaller building that costs $46 million, with $41 million borrowed. The RDNO board approved the extra borrowing without going back to voters, and Vernon councillors sit on that board.

The Cultural Centre’s share of the RDNO part of your bill:

$85 a year from 2025 to 2032

$57 a year from 2033 to 2047

That’s about $1,500 per household over 23 years, just to pay off the borrowing. The cost of running the building once it opens comes on top of that. We were promised $12 a year. That’s not what we voted for.

What council can’t control:

RCMP contract: It added 2.31% to taxes in 2025 and 1.35% in 2026.

Emergency services: Wages are set by contracts.

Lost interest: In 2026, 2.15% went to making up for money the City lost on its investments.

Of the 9.73% increase in 2026, the mayor himself said only about 4% was really up to council. The rest was already decided. That’s exactly why every dollar council does control needs a hard look.

What I’ll do:

what I’ve already been doing for almost 10 years

Pushed back on the 2024 budget

Result: The increase dropped from 7.85% to 5.49%. Real money back in your pocket.

Was the only resident at the 2024 and 2025 budget meetings

Result: Your concerns made it onto the public record and into the news, including notice for construction projects, parking, murals and park upkeep. Without me there, no resident would have been heard at all.

Spoke up for years about sewer fees rising while the City built a $12.9 million system for one business, the brewery

Result: In 2022, the City’s own CAO admitted council had a choice: put the cost only on the high-strength waste users, or on residents too. Council chose residents. The City’s own 2014 sewer plan called for users to pay for their own pre-treatment. In Guelph, Sleeman built its own digester. Here, sewer customers paid for it. In 2025, the brewery confirmed it pays extra fees, but the City hasn’t shown those fees cover the cost. Still pushing.

Raised concerns about the RDNO Cultural Centre’s costs in 2023

Result: The RDNO borrowed more anyway, without asking voters, using the alternate approval process and internal borrowing. That’s exactly why I’m still raising it.

Pushed for a fair recreation services agreement with Coldstream and the RDNO

Result: I raised that the current agreement is a worse deal for Vernon than the one before it. Our neighbours now cover less than 22% (what the last agreement covered) of recreation operating costs, including the Active Living Centre. Vernon taxpayers carry the rest. Still pushing.

Pushed for new development to pay for the growth it causes

Result: In 2020, council cut development fees by 16%. Even after small increases since, they’re still lower today than before that cut, while construction costs have soared. City staff admit the fees cover only about a third of rising costs. Taxpayers cover the rest. The City is rewriting those fees in 2026, and I’m watching to make sure growth pays its own way.

Asked council to freeze their own pay raise during a double-digit tax year

Result: It forced a public vote. Council voted 6-1 to keep their raise. Only one councillor voted for the freeze. Now you know exactly where each of them stands.

Questioned adding a fourth communications staff position at City Hall

Result: Council went ahead anyway. A city our size needs good communication, but every new permanent position is a cost you pay every year, forever. That’s exactly the kind of spending I’ll question at the table.

Why Vernon needs a financial watchdog at the table

When most of your tax increase is already locked in, there’s only one way to protect what’s left: someone who reads every line, asks every question and doesn’t let anything slide. That’s how you keep taxes down. That’s how you get transparency. That’s how you hold City Hall accountable. Anyone can promise to do that. I’ve already been doing it for almost 10 years, from the public gallery, with no vote and no title. I showed up when no one else did. I asked the hard questions when it wasn’t popular and I got results. Imagine what I can do with a seat at the table.

What I’ll bring to council:

Every line of the budget checked, every year