Presentation to MVRD finance committee

Trying to find the path of least resistance

I’m planning to make a presentation to the Metro Vancouver finance committee at their next meeting on Thursday July 10, based on this post: Replacing revenue from development charges. I’ve prepared some slides, but not a full script.

Graph is by Leo Spalteholz.

Graphic is based on a May 2022 analysis by Coriolis. The “land lift,” shown in green, is critical - it provides the motivation for landowners to redevelop or sell. Once that’s gone, nothing happens until prices or rents rise. It’s squeezed by increasing hard costs (red), by other costs including development charges (turquoise), and by the price of single-family homes (blue).

Carney wants to cut development charges on new housing in half. But it’s not just Carney. Scott Aitchison, the Conservative housing critic, has been talking about this as well.

Full-cost water charges would be a big step, so I’ve put together some suggestions that seem like they should be less difficult.

Trying to increase property taxes is difficult, but I’m not sure why nobody’s talked about at least using a fixed mill rate, instead of lowering it as total property value increases.

Of course it’s unlikely that local governments in BC will do any of this without pressure from the federal government or the BC government. The situation in Ontario is similar. (In other provinces, municipalities tax new housing much less heavily - see Montreal vs. Toronto, Moncton.)

More

• MVRD committee members

• Metro Vancouver board plans to hike development charges on new housing (October 2023)

• Two requests to Metro Vancouver Regional District (November 2023)

• Municipal finance ideas (June 2024)

• Urbanarium debate: the province is right to assert its powers over land use. Incentives for local governments are backwards. (October 2024)

• Proposed Metro Van increase on property owners: $90/year. On renters trying to find a place: $600/year (October 2024)

• Taxing land lift is an unreliable source of revenue (October 2024)

• Replacing revenue from development charges (June 2025)

• Metro Vancouver DCC review (June 2025)

• Utility financing of infrastructure to lower cost of housing. Benjamin Dachis, October 2024. Winner of the 2024 Hunter Prize.