Calgary city council opens the books on budget deliberations on Tuesday, and Calgarians will see property tax increases. The rate increases will be officially released during city council's meeting on Tuesday, but on Nov. 6, Ward 14 Cllr. Landon Johnston posted on X an overview of what Calgarians will be facing in the voluminous requests from city administration. "I ran a word count on the city’s 800-page budget request," posted Johnston. "It isn't spending; it's an investment," added Johnton, referring to the language in the document. He said the word 'investment' appeared 1,566 times in the budget document, while 'spending' showed up 26 times. 'Taxpayer' was mentioned twice, Calgarians mentioned '446' times and the word 'cut' just once. "Not one of the 350+ requests says what it would stop doing to pay for itself," wrote Johnson. "This is a 15%+ tax increase. Who is this document written for? Every pressure becomes a new spending case." "Reducing the burden on taxpayers is never treated as an equally legitimate option," said Johnston, adding that the tax increases to pay for administration's 'wish lists' would need to be 15% in 2027, 9.8% in 2028, 7.6% in 2029, and 6% in 2030. To be clear, these rates are not in cement and will be deliberated and debated in council chambers beginning Tuesday morning, when the full list of administration's wants will be revealed. .When the final numbers will be approved by council is not set, but taxes will increase, coming on the heels of council approving major utility rate increases on Oct. 27. Between 2027 and 2030, average yearly water rate increases will be 19.9% for drinking water, 15.2% for wastewater, and 5.8% for stormwater services, all of which are funded through utility rates and levies, not property taxes. Some relief on taxpayers was announced on Oct. 30 when Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the provincial take on education property taxes will be reduced starting in 2027, following years of successive hikes. For many homeowners and farmland owners, the rate will be close to 7% less than in 2026, while commercial and industrial property owners will pay almost 5% less. The new rates will be frozen for three years, said Smith in her announcement. In a note, the Fraser Institute said of the proposed tax increases, "In 2027, the changes mean the typical Calgary homeowner in Calgary ($706,000 house value) will pay an additional $624 on top of the $4,695 they paid in total property taxes this year."."This also follows years of property tax increases that preceded these changes. A Calgarian owning a typical home in 2023 paid $3,647 in property taxes." Fraser added, "Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas defended the new proposed tax hikes, claiming they are necessary for 'maintaining the service levels Calgarians expect.'" "Calgarians are now being told that huge increases in taxes and government spending are the only way to solve problems that tax increases and more spending have already failed to fix," said Fraser. "The City of Calgary should instead focus on its core responsibilities and make difficult decisions to cut spending, particularly regarding the number of government bureaucrats and their compensation levels, while keeping tax hikes at or below the rate of inflation and population growth."
