Proposed 7.8% municipal tax increase has Calgarians divided

Calgary's city hall (Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock)

It’s budget week at the City of Calgary and a public hearing kicked off discussions on Monday morning.

Calgarians would see a 7.8% increase in municipal taxes if the recommendations are approved as is.

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

Based on that recommendation, City administration said that a typical residential property would see a monthly increase of $16.06.

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In response to a concern that Calgarians had, the Administration confirmed that none of the funding sources for the event centre — that will include a new arena — would result in an increase to property taxes or any new debt to the city.

That rate, however, has people divided. Groups representing businesses in Calgary are asking the City to move ahead, with some asking for even more of a shift to residential properties.

“It needs to be two [percentage points,]” said Calgary Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Deborah Yedlin, referring to the shift the chamber wants to see.

“One [percentage point] is a step in the right direction, but to really rebalance our tax burden, we need to take a bigger step.”

Yedlin said that her organization is hearing from member businesses that they aren’t able to raise wages and hire more employees, and that they’ve taken on more debt.

Having said that, she said that both her and the chamber recognize the importance of focusing on affordable housing.

Others disagree with the rate, and some are urging the City to do more to tackle ongoing affordability issues.

“I’m not comfortable with 7.8 and I’ve been very vocal about that,” said Ward One Councillor Sonya Sharp.

“Hopefully my amendments will bring some clarity on what I’m proposing.”

A decision on the 2024 tax rate is expected by Friday, but the number won’t be finalized until the spring of that year.

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