Faced with increasingly higher costs for policing the City of Duncan is considering a tax increase of 11.07% in 2024.
At the present time, there is a proposed increase in taxes for operating expenses of about 4.42%, coupled with an increase of 7.87% to cover policing.
That adds up to an increase of 12.29%, but 1.22% percent will come from new construction, and the city will use $125,000 from the police reserve account, reducing the proposed increase to 11.07%.
Duncan’s population has surpassed 5000 and the city is now required to pay its own policing costs.
The city says for 2024 the number of officers it’s responsible for has been increased to 10, up from nine officers in 2023.
That will increase to 11 in 2025, and finally 12 police officers in 2026.
Duncan also had to transition from paying the province for support staff, to paying North Cowichan for support staff, which comes at an increased cost.
More information can be found online at the City of Duncan website.
