Langley City 2026 Budget Receives Approval in Principle

Last night, Langley City Council considered several matters that form the 2026 budget for our municipality. Council gave third reading to the 2026-2030 Financial Plan last night. I’ve posted about the financial plan extensively over the last few months, and I invite you to read a previous post for more information. One of the recruiting discussion points is the thought that the City should use the previous year’s end-of-year surpluses to fund ongoing operating costs.

Local governments must run balanced budgets and cannot run an operating deficit. Because we set tax and utility fee rates once a year, municipal financial plans must be budgeted conservatively. If revenue comes in under budget, it would have a significant impact on a local government's operations. Langley City Council used to approve the budget in February/March of the budget year. This means that any new position wouldn’t be hired until partway through the year. The City also collects fees, gets interest from reserve accounts, and receives grants. These revenues are variable and can be hard to predict. Between mid-year hiring, temporary staffing vacancies, and revenue variability, all these factors can lead to an operating surplus. Between 2013 and 2024, we had surpluses that ranged from $160,000 to $5.3 million. To help reduce surpluses caused by job vacancies and get hiring started earlier, the 2026 budget process is now underway, with adoption expected in December rather than March (as in previous years). Surpluses are hard to predict and cannot be relied upon to fund permanent expenditures or to reduce taxes. Council’s policy is to allocate any surplus to our capital reserves for one-time projects to be invested back into the community.

Council gave first, second, and third readings to a bylaw to adopt the 2026 solid waste fee. The City provides garbage and organics collection services to detached homes and non-strata townhomes. The flat fee for 2026 is $432.00, an increase of $41.00 or 10.5% over 2025.

Council gave final reading to adopt the water fees for 2026. You can read more about this in a previous post.

Finally, Council adopted other various fees and charge increases to keep up with inflation for 2026. You can read more about these fees and charges on the City’s website.

As a note, all bylaws require three readings and an adoption. With the exception of zoning bylaws and amendments to a zoning bylaw, there must be at least a day between the three readings and adoption. Council can choose to have three readings at once or split them apart.