CALGARY — On Wednesday, Global News broke a story about a confidential City of Calgary budget document that contained a reference to a 20.2% property tax next year.
The story became a flashpoint on social and other media, with city councillors and Mayor Jeromy Farkas taking the brunt of comments.
On Thursday, on X, Farkas responded heatedly to the comments.
The councillor the Mayor is talking about is Ward 14's Landon Johnston who responded, saying :
"Mayor Farkas is really starting to show his true colours and as suspected. instead of attacking the real issue of priority tax spending your Mayor is attacking the whistleblower. The title of the news report was very clear about a proposed tax increase. But the meat of the problem is the Mayor's ability to lead a council in prioritizing that spending."
"But there is a reason why the Mayor continuously drags council into closed sessions. To control the narrative and filter what council can publicly talk about."
"I don't think the public is stupid. I think hiding basic information from the public is wrong. Maybe its time to ask the Mayor how much money he has agreed to spend without the public's knowledge. Or better yet, maybe he can show his unedited work on his proposed tax increase. None of this is confidential. Budget preparation should and will always include the public's input when I am on council."