“I’m not approving one cent more.”
This was the declaration from Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie at Monday’s finance meeting where a 5.86-per-cent overall increase was approved by city council.
Coun. Michael Wolfe had suggested adding about $500,000 to the budget to fight invasive blackberry brambles.
The invasive species program wasn’t recommended by city staff to be included in the 2025 budget, but Wolfe said he’s been advocating for this program while on city council for the past six years as well as before that.
“You can take me to any block, any street, any park and I will find blackberry, I will find English ivy choking trees, I will find knotweed that’s been sprayed and treated many times and it’s still there,” Wolfe told city council.
What’s needed is city staff to fight these invasives, he added.
Wolfe said he was recently at Richmond Nature Park and noticed blackberry brambles continue to overtake the park.
“It floors me after working there 20 years ago, the blackberry is expanding into areas where it’s never been before,” Wolfe said. “It’s going to be a giant wasted park when it becomes all blackberry decades from now. But that’s where it’s going.”
In the end, the majority of city council didn’t approve adding the invasive species management program, rather they stuck with the original 5.86-per-cent increase.
Many councillors, however, noted the need to control invasive blackberries, and the item was referred to the parks and recreation committee.
'Challenging' budget process: City CAO
The city’s chief administrative officer, Serena Lusk, outlined at the beginning of the meeting the challenges city staff faced when preparing the budget.
“This year’s operating budget has been challenging as I feel like I’m here for the third year in a row saying that,” Lusk said. “And there are some significant cost drivers which have been well outlined in the (budget) report.”
However, she added, staff have tried to find efficiencies, cut costs and find “opportunities for revenue growth.”
This year’s budget has several new items, including two new fire prevention captains, at a cost of about $386,000, six new RCMP officers, at a cost of about $1.2 million, and two municipal employees to support the RCMP.
About 40 per cent of Richmond’s budget goes to community safety, that is, to pay for RCMP and the fire department.
The city’s portion of the tax increase to keep the same level of service is 1.99 per cent, and recently negotiated city contracts add 1.85 per cent to the budget.
One per cent, about $3 million, will go into capital reserves. A portion of the tax increase goes to higher levels of government, including TransLink and school taxes.
To offset the budget increase, $2 million is being used from the rate stabilization fund – which is from previous surpluses – which decreases taxes by 0.65 per cent.
The 5.86-per-cent increase will mean an average increase of $128 for an average single-family household whose assessed value is about $1.3 million.
The 2025 budget is on the agenda for next week’s city council meeting at which time the public is invited to give feedback. It will then go out for public consultation.
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