A Plan to Fix the Budget & Make Your Vote Matter

The City budget is a reflection of how we care for one another and invest in the next generation.  

Fix the Budget

The OneCity Team will move to make the budget something you can read, something you help write, and something that reflects what you actually believe our city owes its people. 

• Participatory Budgeting – Scale participatory budgeting citywide, giving residents real spending power and key information for the first time ever.

• A Readable Budget – Communicate the City’s budget in plain language and line by line accountability, so Vancouverites know what they’re getting from their government. 

• Balancing Revenues –  Explore a progressive property tax in Vancouver, so the wealthiest land owners who can afford it, contribute more.

• Cracking Down on Tax Dodgers – End the tax write offs for owners who turn their approved development lands into parks and gardens, and don’t build.  

• Fighting Austerity – Protect the services that keep our city running through fair property annual tax rates that make it possible to build new critical infrastructure like pipes, parks, and pools.

OneCity will implement creative and savvy solutions to save money and put public dollars toward building thriving communities. 

• Supporting & Continuing the UNDRIP Action Plan - OneCity will continue the work already unanimously adopted by the City of Vancouver to implement the UNDRIP Action Plan.

• Protecting Against Service Cuts – We'll adopt a Public Services Protection Test before cuts, contracting out, privatization, or service reductions so money delivers value to communities instead of hollowing them out. 

• Restoring the Living Wage – We'll recertify the City and School Board as living wage employers so the workers who keep our city running can be able to live in it. 

• Fixing Pipes & Potholes Before They Break – OneCity will save money by fixing and replacing old critical infrastructure early through preventative maintenance and transparent timelines so we borrow money cheaper and spend less down the road. 

• Making Waterhogs Pay – We'll introduce water meters to lower utility costs for average Vancouverites and make big users of water, like mansion owners, pay their fair share. 

• Aligning City Council, Park, & School Boards to Deliver Services – We will coordinate Shared Services Agreements to get rid of silos; key services can be supported by every board, run more efficiently, scale more effectively, and available to as many Vancouverites as possible.

What this means for you: OneCity believes Vancouver is worth investing in. We can build new pools and parks in every neighbourhood and open them for longer hours. We can repair infrastructure early, so we spend less down the road. And we can deliver the services you count on across our schools, parks, and city services so they reach more people and our neighbourhoods flourish. OneCity believes we deserve better, and we have the team and a plan to deliver it. 

Make Your Vote Matter.

• Office of Direct Community Engagement – OneCity will create a new Office of Direct Community Engagement that deploys city staff directly into communities for policy, planning, and resourcing decisions. This means neighbours will be part of the discussion from the start, so that everyone is brought along.

• City Hall on Wheels – We will launch a pilot for mobile 3-1-1 Service Vans meant to bridge the gap between City Hall and folks who for too long have been disconnected from basic city services.

• Democratic Reform – OneCity commits to an instant run off ranked ballot for mayor and the use of new voting methods, like proportional representation, to ensure that your ballot actually reflects who your neighbourhood wants to lead the City, not just who has the best funded campaign. We’ll get there by supporting a Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform that will recommend either a proportional, ward, or hybrid system to improve diversity and representation, ahead of the 2030 election.

What this means for you: OneCity believes that we can do things like community consultation better, and we'll work with you to build the city we all dream of. We can fix the way we elect our government, so you can trust that you have someone who cares about the things you care about in City Hall. We also believe City Hall shouldn't be a labyrinth of bureaucracy: we can and should meet you where you're at, not the other way around.