Metro Vancouver’s outgoing board voted to defer a decision on the region’s 2027 budget after complaints calling for the new board to review the proposal.
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Metro Vancouver’s outgoing board delayed a vote on the regional district’s 2027 budget on Friday following calls from incoming local politicians, including the mayors-elect of Vancouver, Surrey and New Westminster, that any decision should wait for the new board.
The region’s board made up of elected officials from 21 municipalities, one electoral area and one treaty First Nation, is expected to transition as new councillors and mayors take their seats after local elections earlier this month.
At the meeting, Metro Vancouver board chair and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said directors should follow through on their work and provide the next board with a foundation to build on. He said the water district board is required to have a budget by Dec. 31 and believed the budget should pass.
Despite that, the directors ultimately voted to defer the budget in an 89-36 vote, moving the decision to the incoming board.
After the meeting, Hurley said he was disappointed with the result, adding that the board made the decision and they would live with it.
Outgoing director and Vancouver councillor Rebecca Bligh voted to defer the budget, saying the board should look honestly at a “tumultuous time” for Metro Vancouver and take an “important step” toward restoring accountability and trust.
Outgoing Burnaby councillor Sav Dhaliwal opposed the deferral, saying the current board still had a mandate and responsibility to deliver what it was elected to do.
Brad West, the re-elected mayor of Port Coquitlam, also supported deferring the budget, saying the turnover from local elections means there is time to pass the budget before the required deadline and that the incoming board should be allowed to review the work completed.
The budget would have proposed a $17 increase (1.9%) over last year’s total household impact, which Metro Vancouver described as lower than the three per cent target for 2027. The increase would have applied across Metro Vancouver services, including utilities delivered through the water district, sewerage and drainage district, and services delivered through the regional district such as regional parks and air quality management.
The first meeting of the incoming board is scheduled for Nov. 27.
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