Mayor Leonard Krog Responds to the Incumbent Questionnaire

VOICE OF NANAIMO | NANAIMO VOTES 2026

Mayor Leonard Krog provided the following written answers to the incumbent questionnaire on taxation, spending, public safety and accountability.

Years on council: 8
Date submitted: September 14, 2026

Answers are published in the candidate’s own words. Participation and publication are free and separate from candidate advertising. Publication does not constitute an endorsement.

Numbers behind the questions

The following figures provide context. A candidate may challenge, clarify or add context to any figure in an answer. City revenue figures are not the same as the percentage change in the tax bill on an individual property.

Measure	Starting point	Later figure	Change or context
City taxes and user fee revenue	$152.5 million in 2018	$233.0 million in 2025	Increase of about 52.8 percent
City wages and benefits	$64.8 million in 2018	$99.4 million in 2025	Increase of about 53.3 percent
Municipal property tax increases	7.3 percent in 2023	7.7 percent in 2024	6.3 percent in 2026
Fire service	40 additional firefighters approved	$28.0 million expense in 2024	$32.2 million expense in 2025
Hospital District levy	Requisition almost doubled in 2022	28.2 percent annual increases through 2024	$49.5 million requisition in 2026

Question 1: Your overall record

Looking back over your time on council, what are the three spending or taxation decisions you are most prepared to defend? What did Nanaimo taxpayers receive in return for each decision?

Leonard Krog:

I will defend all decisions that were made by Council. During my tenure, City expenditures on infrastructure (water, sewer, roads, sidewalks etc) and on service to the public have been responses to the rapid growth of the City and a need to fix pre-existing infrastructure deficits and invest for many decades into the future.

Question 2: Growth in taxes and user fees

City tax and user fee revenue increased from approximately $152.5 million in 2018 to $233.0 million in 2025, an increase of about 52.8 percent. How much of this increase do you attribute to population growth, inflation, expanded services, staffing decisions and other factors? Do you believe this rate of revenue and spending growth was financially sustainable?

Leonard Krog:

All of the increase has been in response to fixing infrastructure deficits, investing in the future, improving public assets, such as parks and recreation. Financial sustainability concerns are reflected in the recognition by a majority that an opportunity exists to increase the amount of our industrial land inventory to attract new investment and to keep a reasonable balance between residential and business taxes.

Question 3: Repeated annual tax increases

Nanaimo taxpayers faced municipal property tax increases of 7.3 percent in 2023, 7.7 percent in 2024 and approximately 6.3 percent in 2026. At what point does an annual municipal tax increase become unaffordable? Please give a specific percentage, formula or other measurable limit rather than saying only that taxes should be kept as low as possible.

Leonard Krog:

There is no fixed formula! Increases in spending are a function of prices of the materials and labour that produce infrastructure assets that support a growing city and revitalisation of aging assets. It can cost up to $3000 to install 1m of sidewalk. I cannot control that fact.

Question 4: Wages and benefits

City wages and benefits increased from approximately $64.8 million in 2018 to $99.4 million in 2025, an increase of about 53.3 percent. Do you believe taxpayers can continue supporting employee cost growth at this rate? What specific changes, if any, would you support to control staffing, compensation and benefit costs during the next council term?

Leonard Krog:

Employee cost always has to be a concern of any organization, private or public. I am of the opinion that the taxpayers of Nanaimo are well served by a competent staff with experience. Good employees do not come cheap. What I focus on is efficiency, and I acknowledge that there is room for improvement when it comes to that aspect. We have to get decisions on building permits, for example, done quicker.

Question 5: Additional firefighters

Council approved 40 additional firefighters and two fire engines. The City's fire service expense increased from approximately $28.0 million in 2024 to $32.2 million in 2025. What is the full recurring annual cost of this expansion, including wages, benefits, equipment, vehicles, training and facilities? What measurable improvements have resulted, such as response times, reduced overtime or improved public safety, and where can taxpayers examine those results?

Leonard Krog:

The City’s population has increased rapidly in the last 10-15 years, and there are more buildings with higher density than before. I believe that the public deserves public safety resources that are adequate to the task and able to respond to any emergency.

Question 6: Public safety spending and results

Nanaimo has added firefighters, RCMP positions and Community Safety Officers. Residents and downtown property owners continue to report fires, vandalism and disorder, and some pay for private security in addition to municipal taxes. Are taxpayers receiving an adequate improvement in public safety for the additional money being spent? If not, what would you change?

Leonard Krog:

I have been crystal clear that the threats to public safety and disorder are not the primary business of a municipal government. My concern over public disorder has been channelled into leading provincial mayors pressing the province and the federal government to amend policies that have resulted in the proliferation of dangerous drugs; I have lobbied hard for the province to make “dry housing” available and to expand the services available to citizens who are drug dependent and who may have mental health problems. I have pressed for involuntary detention when required.

Question 7: Hospital tax levy

The Nanaimo Regional Hospital District levy is separate from the City budget, but Nanaimo council members also serve on the Regional District and Hospital District boards. Did you vote for Hospital District tax increases during your time on the board? If yes, why did you support increases of this size, and what consideration was given to the combined burden of municipal taxes, user fees and the hospital levy? What is the maximum hospital levy you believe taxpayers should be expected to carry?

Leonard Krog:

I have voted for all the increases in the hospital tax and I have vigorously supported the people who are leading the effort to improve services at NRGH. The response of the public to those efforts is significant and reflects a broad understanding of the shortfall in service being provided by the Province. I will continue to support the work of the Nanaimo Regional District Hospital Board and its raising of funds by taxpayer levies until we finally receive health services equivalent to those available in Cities of comparable size and demographics across Canada. Our ability to attract businesses and employees will be much improved when we achieve success in improving our health services.

Question 8: Core Services Review

Will you support a comprehensive, independent Core Services Review during the first year of the next council term? If yes, what should it examine, who should conduct it and will you commit to making the complete findings public? If no, why do you believe such a review is unnecessary?

Answer: NO

Leonard Krog:

I am not supportive of a Core Review. As I have explained above, our City’s primary business is keeping your water running, your wastewater treated, your roads and sidewalks safe. I have no reason to think that those objectives would be assisted by a lengthy bureaucratic exercise that would divert staff from doing their jobs.

Question 9: Taxpayer Affordability Test

Will you vote to adopt a formal Taxpayer Affordability Test before council approves annual budgets, major new programs or additional borrowing? If yes, what measurable conditions should it use, including household incomes, inflation, unemployment, housing costs and the combined effect of local taxes and fees? If no, how should council determine whether taxpayers can afford another increase?

Answer: NO

Leonard Krog:

The Councils that I have led, and for which I have considerable respect, always have had affordability in mind. Councillors come from different and varied social and economic circumstances, but all of them have a keen appreciation of tax burdens. The creation of new industrial land that can lead to a re-balancing of residential and property tax burdens is a much more appropriate way to deal with affordability than an affordability test. Who would design and conduct it? Who pays the cost of test administration? I want to make what already exists more effiicient.

Question 10: Your commitment for the next term

What maximum municipal property tax increase would you support in each year of the next council term? Please provide a number or a clear formula. What programs, projects or spending commitments would you reconsider if staying within that limit required council to make difficult choices?

Leonard Krog:

I will argue for and support tax and expenditure decisions that make sense, which address priorities decided by Council (not by me alone). I think a formulaic approach to municipal taxation is yet another piece of bureaucracy. If Council does things that the majority of residents do not support, there will be an election to pass judgement.

Voice of Nanaimo — Nanaimo News, City Hall & Taxpayer Watch