“While the council-directed property tax increase applies to the overall tax levy, the extent of change, year over year, in an individual property’s tax is determined primarily by how that property’s assessed value has changed relative to the average change within its property class,” the report said. “Properties with a higher increase in value relative to the average change of their class could experience a much higher increase in property tax beyond the council-directed increase, while properties with a lower increase in value could experience no change or a reduction in property tax.” The proposed 9.7 per cent hike this year is being driven by 2.7 per cent for the Vancouver Police Department, one per cent for infrastructure renewal, one per cent for “reserve replenishment for financial sustainability” and five per cent for funding across city services “as well as risks around uncertain costs across the city, inclusive of VPD.”