Image: City of Chilliwack / Chilliwack City Council is pictured.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Projected tax increase

City of Chilliwack plans to hire more RCMP members, firefighters as part of 2026 financial plan

Dec 1, 2025 | 6:41 AM

CHILLIWACK — With an emphasis on public safety through additional police officers and firefighters, the City of Chilliwack is now projecting a nearly five per cent property tax increase in its 2026 financial plan.

According to a staff report from finance director Glen Savard contained in this week’s council meeting agenda, the city anticipates hiring two additional RCMP members, one fire chief position, and three additional firefighter budgeted positions.

Section 165 of the Community Charter requires that a municipality have a financial plan bylaw adopted on an annual basis. Pursuant to this mandate, the City of Chilliwack prepares a ten-year financial plan that synchronizes short-term and long-term service and infrastructure goals with anticipated requirements well in advance.

“This enables Council to prioritize operational and capital requirements with a planning and savings strategy to fund capital priorities without debt in accordance with a pay-as-you-go capital financing policy,” Savard noted in his report.

Savard says municipal governments across B.C. and Canada continue to face what he calls “escalating inflationary and nondiscretionary” costs for the provision of many of its core and essential services delivered to their respective communities.

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As a result, inflationary and non-discretionary cost increases provide very little budgetary flexibility and must be funded through revenues generated from property taxation to maintain current and regular levels of service.

More specifically, Savard says the delivery of policing services remains a significant cost driver on the 2026 financial plan. Policing services are continually escalating year after year.

The cost increase associated with the contract with the RCMP has had the single biggest hit on the city’s financial plan, requiring a 2.95 per cent tax increase alone to fund this contracted service in the absence of additional resources, Savard said. Altogether, a 4.9 per cent tax increase has been proposed for the 2026 financial plan.

“This financial plan and tax increase level ensures the City’s financial commitments are met for the delivery of municipal services, adds resourcing levels in public safety for police and fire, ensures reinvestment in City infrastructure and funds all capital expenditures without debt, in accordance with the city’s pay-as-you go no-debt capital financing policy,” Savard wrote.

Chilliwack councillors will give first and second reading of the 2026 financial plan this Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. A public information meeting on the city’s 2026 financial plan will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16.