THE 2026 TAX RECORD, AND WHO VOTED WHICH WAY - Sooke BC
WE ASKED WHAT 2026 WOULD BRING. NOW WE HAVE THE ANSWER.
When this petition went up, the list ended with a question mark.
2023: 6.99%
2024: 10.53%
2025: 15.29%
2026: ???
The answer is 10.5%.
That is four increases in a row. Compounded off the 2022 rate, a Sooke homeowner is now paying 50.65% more than four years ago. Add the four numbers up and you get 43.31%, but that is not how tax increases work. Each one builds on the last, and you never go back to the old number.
▫️ HOW IT HAPPENED
Council set a 12% ceiling on February 23. Staff built the options inside it. On April 1 the budget was read at 12%, and council voted the same night to bring it down. Councillors Kevin Pearson, Herb Haldane and Megan McMath voted against even the reduced number, saying it still put too much pressure on residents. The three had pushed to get closer to 8%.
The rest of council voted in favour. Final adoption came on April 13, and 10.5% is what we pay.
▫️ WHAT WAS SAID AT THE PODIUM
During public input on April 1, before the vote, Helen Ritts asked council to go higher. Helen is now a candidate for council in the October election. Her words:
❝ Sadly in Sooke, 1% only brings us about $145,000. And I think we all agree that doesn't go far.
❝ This is not an aggressive budget, it's a constrained one.
❝ I ask that you pass 12%.
We are giving you her actual words and the timestamp so you can hear the full argument rather than our summary of it.
▫️ WATCH IT YOURSELF
District of Sooke Special Council Meeting, April 1, 2026, Budget Revisions. Helen Ritts speaks from 11:02 to 12:43.
➡️ youtube.com/watch?v=nOGlvoEfJRw&t=662s
If you have time to view exactly one council meeting before you vote in October, make it this one.
▫️ WHAT THE PLAN ALREADY ASSUMES
This is not a one year problem. Council's own consolidated revenue plan, presented March 10, 2025, projects 8.66% for 2027, 8.41% for 2028 and 3.37% for 2029. Projections get revised every year, but they show what the current trajectory, the double-digit increases, treats as normal. Watch the meeting for yourself:
➡️ youtube.com/live/00KbgkjuMWk
▫️ WHO IS ON THE RECORD
These are the candidates who have engaged directly with residents on affordability and with this petition. They are not the only names on the ballot. Any candidate who wants their position on taxes published here can either sign this petition now, and/or add to the comment section of this petition for all to see.
Against tax increases to date are:
Running for Mayor
Kevin Pearson, Sooke First. Voted against the tax increase.
Running for Council
Herb Haldane, incumbent, Sooke First. Voted against the tax increase.
Janet Evans, former Mayor, Sooke First - stated against tax increase
Elliott Lifton, Sooke First - stated against tax increase
Rob Pearce, Sooke First - stated against tax increase
Curtis Peterec, Sooke First - stated against tax increase
Christine Thomas, Sooke First - stated against tax increase
A new entrant to the Sooke municipal election in October is Ty Daniels who says (from a brochure handed out) "The current council projects a staggering 53% tax increase over the next 4 years. I oppose this...."
▫️ WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR
Nothing has changed since you signed. This petition has never been anti service. Roads, water, sewer, storm drainage, fire and police are what a municipality is for. What we are asking is that council favour the practical option over the gold-plated one, be transparent about exemptions and who ends up carrying them, grow the commercial tax base so homeowners stop shouldering it alone, and consult residents before decisions are locked in.
Double digit increases year after year aren't a budget, they're a habit.
October 17. Ask every candidate on your doorstep what their plan is to break it.
Please share this update with a neighbour who has not signed yet. Send this MESSAGE to SOOKE future politicians. Thank you for signing.