CALGARY — Calgary City Council tossed aside protocol at its Tuesday meeting, opening the door a crack on preliminary budget discussions that in the past would have been held behind closed doors.
Although it wasn’t officially stated, opening the door was clearly due to the leaking of budget documents by Cllr. Landon Johnston earlier in September that resulted in a rumor running rampant through the city that the tax hike next year would be 20.2%.
That isn’t the number and would never have been the number.
But the number could be as much as a 15% increase, which is not confirmed, as the final number will be settled in November after more council deliberations.
In an initial presentation from city administration, councillors were told they are facing three options for service levels Calgarians expect over the next four years including the 15% increase in 2027, followed by a 9.8% increase in 2028.
Add in utility and waste and recycling costs and the average increase for Calgary homeowners is $52 per month in 2027 and a $56 monthly increase in 2028.
That is the scenario facing councillors, who will begin final budget deliberations on November 23, with Mayor Jeromy Farkas saying the number could change even before the budget talks begin.
“I am absolutely committed to Calgarians to bring a lower tax increase overall between the city and the province as was delivered last year,” said Farkas.
Ward 12 Cllr.Mike Jamieson said, “It comes down to what service standard do you want, what outcomes are deliverables so that every single dollar we can look back to Calgarians and say ‘yes, this is a result of your property taxes going up X,Y or Z.”
“I think Calgarians want us to look at our budget and be serious about it, make the cuts where we need to and focus on core services," said Ward 1 Cllr. Kim Tyers.
Administration told council it is proposing $20.4 million be budgetted for infrastructure.
Council also heard the Calgary Police Service will be seeking a large increase in its capital and operating budgets when the discussions begin, that includes hiring 309 additional police officers and 214 civilian employees by 2030.
We're seeing more guns. We're seeing more drugs, and we have to get ahead of that in order to keep the city one of the safest in the country,” said Calgary Police Chief Calgary Police Chief Katie McLellan.
