Calgary city council approves 4-year budget plan, adds extra $140M to support city services

After a week of budget deliberations at Calgary city hall, councillors have landed on the numbers that will guide spending in the city over the next four years.

It was a budget debate that opened this week having been characterized by administration as a "modest budget."

Lengthy debate and a marathon, two-day public hearing that saw more than 150 people speak to council followed.

In the end, council decided to adjust course on multiple fronts outlined earlier this month, dipping into one-time funds to support various city services, among them:

• Maintaining transit fees at 2022 levels.
• Eliminating transit fares for children 12 years of age and under.
• Lowering the cost of weekend family transit passes.
• Allocating $19 million to support the city's mental health and addictions strategy.
• Sending an additional $10 million to support the city's fire department.
• Sending $20 million to the city's 5A Network (pathways and bikeways).

That was in addition to various spending measures already outlined, including a $10-billion capital spending program over the next five years, and spending boosts to police, fire and other services.

What didn't change on Friday was a proposed 4.4 per cent property tax rate increase for 2023, which was what was recommended by administration earlier this month.

The property tax rate will not be finalized until the provincial government sets its education property tax rate in the spring.

Extra spending

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek attributed the extra spending to what was heard during the city's public hearing earlier this week.

"You were heard, you were seen. The situations that you're in, the incredible desperation that we heard in some voices, the incredible hope we heard in others. It matters. Those public hearings matter," Gondek said. "When we listen to you, we act in a way that supports you."

The money for those increases will come from this year's budget surplus and extra utility franchise fees. All told, the price tag for the increases is pegged at $140 million.

Council was split on this strategy.

Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra of Ward 9 said that while he supported the measures the amendment focused on, using one-time money meant council would still be faced with finding money in future years. 

Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer, who initially brought forward the amendment to reallocate the money, said the move signalled what could be future continued support on various initiatives, such as dropping transit fares for those 12 and under.

"We were drawing on what Calgarians have been telling us over the last year, and we want to make sure that we get this right," Spencer said. "But we're balancing some pretty extreme priorities in terms of affordability, and then also making investments in this community to make sure we get to where we want to go."

Fiery moment

Coun. Dan McLean, meanwhile, said he would rather have seen surplus money used for tax relief, bringing an amendment to the floor to that effect.

That brought some sparks to council chambers after Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian took issue with a comment from McLean earlier that afternoon, in which he suggested Calgarians were just learning about the city's $65-million projected surplus. 

Mian said it "bothered" her that McLean, who represents Ward 13, was recognized as a fiscal conservative on council when, in her view, all he had brought in that regard was cutting his own salary.

"Just be worth the money," Mian said, adding that McLean's comments suggested he could not read a budget.

In response, McLean said the surplus was not a surprise to him but that Calgarians may not have been aware of it.

The motion was defeated 13-2, with McLean and Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu voting in favour.

Split opinions

Not everyone was happy with the direction council chose. In the end, the budget passed 10-5, with Coun. Jennifer Wyness of Ward 2, Coun. Andre Chabot, McLean, Sharp and Chu all voting against.

Speaking to reporters after councillors broke for lunch prior to the budget being passed, Chabot, who represents Ward 10, voiced his frustrations with the direction things were heading in.

"It has become very clear that on this three-lane highway, members of council don't know what lane they're in," he said.

Councillors also voted to approve a number of other amendments to the budget on Friday, including one from Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott that will see an additional $20 million drawn from Calgary Parking reserves to support the 5A Network of pathways and bikeways, on top of the money adopted earlier in the day.

Another amendment approved by council, from Coun. Raj Dhaliwal of Ward 5, will see $2 million over four years from the snow and ice control reserve fund allocated to responses to snow emergencies.

Sharp introduced a motion, which was approved, that will see $40 million from real estate reserves allocated to a program that converts office spaces to residential and post-secondary spaces.

A motion from Carra that would have seen the police budget voted on separately was defeated 8-7.