For years, we've been told rising property taxes were the result of inflation, population growth, and the fact that "everything costs more."

A new report from the Business Council of British Columbia points to another factor.

It found that 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 much faster than inflation and population growth.

𝐁𝐂 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝟏𝟏𝟎% 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟎 – 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚.

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦, 𝐁𝐂 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝟑𝟕%.

𝟖𝟖% 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐂 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞.

The report only includes data through 2024 and does not reflect increases since then, such as Kamloops' 20% increase in management remuneration in 2025.

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬?

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 - 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞-𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

𝐇𝐎𝐖 they'll reduce spending.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 they'll prioritize.

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 they'll find savings.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥.

Link to report: The Runaway Train is Accelerating:  An Updated Look at Growth in B.C. Municipal Spending