Calgary City Council approves 7.8% tax hike to fund "needed" services

Calgary City Council approves 7.8% tax increase to fund “desperately needed” services

Calgary's city hall. (Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock)

Property owners in Calgary are set to see an increase of 7.8% in municipal taxes in 2024.

In a 9-6 vote on Wednesday, Calgary City Council approved the budget and the increase for next year after three days of deliberations.

“I would consider this decision of Council as one that sends a very clear signal,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek during the deliberations.

“Your local government sees where services are desperately needed and we won’t turn our backs on people.”

Budget week began with a public hearing on Monday where residents, businesses representing organizations, and members of various advocacy groups came to Council chambers, sharing stories, concerns, and feedback ahead of the vote.

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A 3.4% rate was already approved by Council, but a number of items, including the City’s recently approved housing strategy and funding for social services, had City Administration raise the increase further to fund those areas.

That money will be used for a number of items including:

Calgary’s new housing strategy, with $90 million in capital funding, $27 million in annual ongoing funding, and $54.5 million in 2024 one-time funding.
Transit and community safety, with $15 million in annual ongoing funding and $2 million in 2024 one-time funding.
Calgary’s mental health and addictions strategy, with $6 million in ongoing funding.

“The tax increases are not affecting our most vulnerable Calgarians. For the most part, our most vulnerable Calgarians don’t even have a home to pay taxes for,” said Ward 11 Councillor Kourtney Penner.

“This budget is asking those who have a bit more to help those who have a little bit less.”

Tax shift a point of contention

In the proposed budget, City Administration suggested that there should be a 1% shift of the tax responsibility from businesses to homeowners.

Based on that, municipal taxes for a median house with a value of $610,000 are approved to increase by approximately $16 per month.

The proposed recommendation sparked a lot of debate from the get-go.

Deborah Yedlin, the President and CEO of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, spoke about it during the public submissions.

At the time, she said that there should be a bigger shift and advocated for 2% instead, but also stated that the recommended shift was a “step in the right direction.”

Several motions intended to alter or eliminate the shift made on Wednesday by councillors were unsuccessful.

“A lot of people are struggling right now,” said Ward 10 Councillor Andre Chabot, who put forward a number of attempts to decrease the tax burden on homeowners.

“We are struggling, economically. Many people are on the brink of homelessness.”

Providing a solution

During Monday’s public submissions, people shared stories of recent struggles, affordability issues, and worries regarding public safety.

The approved budget, for some councillors, is an answer to that.

“We’re going to go back to our communities and we’re going to tell them ‘yes, we’re bringing an increase,’ but make sure you tell the whole story,” said Ward Eight Councillor Courtney Walcott.

“Tell the truth and see how people respond, because, I promise, that they’ll respond to public safety, they’ll respond to housing, they’ll respond to children riding free, they’ll respond to parks and rec, arts and culture, they’ll respond to making sure that businesses are more viable in out communities.”

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