It’s budget week at Calgary city hall, as councillors will receive the spending wish list from administration and debate amongst themselves until a final budget is established, for councillors to debate upon again. It’s not a matter of whether taxes will go up or not, it’s a matter of how much. Administration has already said it needs to cover some unfunded expenses, suggesting last week the hike would be close to the overall 3.6% council had agreed to in 2022. Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the budget has no discretionary spending in it, focusing on infrastructure, public transit and public safety, with about 20% covering inflation. In a press scrum Monday, Gondek said "I challenge my colleagues calling for more cuts to show your math. Explain what you would sacrifice — and to what end. I refuse to ask families to trade their safety and quality of life for a few dollars of short-term savings.".The numbers most Calgary taxpayers want to know are: a potential 3.9% tax increase on single-family homes; for condo and apartment owners, the increase could be as high as 10.5%. The difference is in the way the city assesses taxes, which is based on property values, with condominium and apartment values seeing a larger rate of increase than single-family homes, ironically because they are priced, for the most part, less expensive than single-family home. The overall tax shift will be to 46% non-residential and 54% residential, a 1% increase of the latter. Also expect an increase in utility rates, based on the major water main break in Montgomery over the summer, and more infrastructure repairs on administration's agenda. The major number crunching starts Tuesday — Monday’s council session was a public hearing, with Calgarians appearing in person in chambers, as well as on the phone, some suggesting taxes should be lowered, while others taxes should be increased to fund public transit and increasing other city services.
