The outgoing board of Metro Vancouver delayed a vote on the regional district’s 2027 budget on Friday.
The pause comes after calls from various incoming local politicians — including the mayors-elect of Vancouver, Surrey and New Westminster — saying decisions should wait for the new board.
Metro Vancouver is made up of elected local officials from 21 municipalities, one electoral area and one treaty First Nation. The board will be transitioning as new councillors and mayors take their seats after local elections earlier this month.
Metro board chair and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said at the Friday meeting that the directors should follow through on their work and give the next board of directors a foundation to work with.
He said the water district board is required to have a budget by Dec. 31, and he believes the budget should pass.
The board ultimately voted to defer the budget in an 89-36 vote.
After the meeting, Hurley told CBC News he was disappointed with the result.
“However, the board made that decision, and we live with those decisions,” he said.
The budget proposes a $17 (1.9 per cent) increase over last year’s total household impact, which is lower than the three per cent target for 2027, according to a Metro Vancouver spokesperson.
That increase is for all Metro Vancouver services, spanning the utilities provided through the water district, sewerage and drainage district, in addition to services through the regional district, such as regional parks and air quality management.
The regional district has faced criticism in recent years, particularly because the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant project has ballooned in cost.
Outgoing director and Vancouver councillor Rebecca Bligh voted to defer the budget.
Bligh said the board should look honestly at “what has been a tumultuous time for Metro Vancouver.”
“There is an important step here to restore accountability and trust within the organization and how the public sees that,” she said.
Outgoing Burnaby councillor Sav Dhaliwal wanted to pass the budget. He said the current board still has a mandate and responsibility to deliver what they were elected to do.
“You expect a new board coming in … to read that 700-page budget book and make a decision in the first meeting? Ridiculous,” Dhaliwal said.
Brad West, re-elected mayor of Port Coquitlam, also supported deferring the budget given the turnover in the local elections. He said there is still time to pass the budget before the required deadline.
“I understand it may not be preferable for some folks but from where I sit, I think we need to allow the incoming board the opportunity to review the work that has been done,” West said.
He said there has been good work done and noted the increase was brought down “quite significantly from previous estimates.”
The first meeting of the incoming board is scheduled for Nov. 27.