Approved Township Budget Makes Significant New Investments

The Township of Langley Council has approved a 2023 budget that will add additional services focused on safety, library supports, and long needed infrastructure upgrades within the rapidly growing Township community. The tax increase is one of the lowest in Metro Vancouver.

The 2023 budget includes maintaining the high level of services Township residents are used to, along with new investments to add capacity, including:

• 11 firefighters,
• 5 RCMP officers,
• 3 bylaw officers,
• additional staffing to improve service levels in development application processing, finance, and tree protection.

The budget and its investments are supported by a 5.37% increase to property taxes, which began higher and through discussion and adjustments resulted in a lower increase that aims to balance the operational needs of the Township with the economic and inflationary pressures many municipalities are facing. This increase is lower, in some cases less than half, than several other Metro Vancouver municipalities yet allows for the continuity of Township operations and addition of new resources.

“This Council has found ways to fund new services and amenities people want and need, aside from using large property tax increases that other municipalities are putting in place,” said Mayor Eric Woodward. “We will continue our work to minimize the financial burden on people while providing more services, amenities, and other supports to meet the needs of this fast-growing community.”

Inflation is having a significant impact on the cost to deliver services across all departments. The cost of contracted services in areas such as recycling, traffic control, mowing services, natural gas costs, and animal control services have all increased to maintain current service levels. The Township was able to keep the increase lower due to cost saving and efficiency measures implemented during the budgeting process and will continue to identify these in future years.

Council priorities were supported by feedback from community members in the recent budget 2023 public engagement survey where the top three most important issues facing our communities selected were Transportation/Streets, Crime/Policing, and Fire Services.

This budget comes in a time of ongoing uncertainty in the financial environment, including high inflation, high interest rates, lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues. The Township remains committed to providing a high level of service delivery for residents, while making long needed improvements in infrastructure and public safety.

To read more about the budget, visit the budget webpage.