Calgary council to debate 3.6% property tax hike as budget looks to pump brakes on notable projects

Calgary council is set to debate a budget this week that calls for a 3.6 per cent increase in property taxes, but also will leave several notable projects unfunded for now.

In September, senior officials said growth demands would require a 4.5 per cent overall tax hike.

But earlier this month, administration said it had made some changes, including using millions of dollars of income from city investments, to bring that back down to 3.6 per cent, which was the target set by council two years ago.

If approved by council, the proposed plan would see the owner of a median-priced home worth $700,000 paying about $8 more per month in municipal property tax. 

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the tax hike falls below the rate of inflation plus population growth, and will help maintain essential services that Calgarians rely on, like transit, infrastructure and public safety.

"The numbers that we outlined in 2022 for inflation, those have almost doubled. The population growth that we anticipated has tripled," Gondek said.

"We still managed to hold the line at what we promised in 2022, in spite of growth and inflation. That was our promise to Calgarians, and that's what I want to stay true to."

Some councillors, including Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, want the city to go further. 

"If you ask the average Calgarian, is this striking a balance? If this was the only tax increase in the last three and a half years, you could probably sell it, and they would be OK with it," Sharp said.

Sharp said she thought reducing the property tax hike even further would be possible without having to cut essential services.

"This is another thing that I think people are forgetting, is that you've got to look at the whole corporation in its entirety and think, 'OK, well, hold on a second, where can I look for finding efficiencies that don't affect front-line services?'" Sharp said.

Some projects not moving ahead — yet

Included in the proposed budget adjustments is a list of unfunded operating and capital investments that the city says can't be accommodated at this time due to "significant financial pressures and constraints."

The city states that these investments will be considered in future cycles should additional funding become available.

Those projects include:

• A planned widening of Peigan Trail between Barlow and Stoney Trail S.E., which the city says would support goods movement and improve traffic flow.
• Plans to establish a 24-hour Calgary Transit network through the creation of a network of night bus services.
• A new dock used to raise and lower the SS Moyie from the Glenmore Reservoir. The dry dock has been in use since 1968, and the city says it is beyond its useful life.
• Replacement of the existing washrooms in Shouldice Park.
• Calgary Transit operations upgrades, addressing ballast detrioration, poor drainage, fire sprinkler testing and hoists used for bus maintenance.
• Funding for 50 buses as part of RouteAhead.
• Reconstruction of three major roads with deterioration in pavement quality, including 17th Avenue S.E. from 84th Street to the city limits, McKnight Boulevard from Fourth Street N.W. to 12th Street N.E., and westbound Memorial Drive from 36th Street to Marlborough Way.

City of Calgary administration also outlined a number of major water projects as part of its proposed budget adjustments for 2025. 

The city is eyeing the construction of $1.5 billion in projects, with a plan to borrow more than $1 billion to make it happen.

Budget deliberations are scheduled to run through the week. A presentation on the budget adjustments will take place Monday morning, which will be followed by a public hearing.