There’s a mix of frustration and acceptance that City of Calgary won’t likely bring forward a property tax increase for 2025 in line with a mandate earlier this year.

This week, Calgary city council gets its first look at city administration’s proposed budget, and what’s believed to be a higher-than-expected property tax increase.

In February, Calgary city council voted to stick with the property tax increases mandated for the final two years of its four-year budget cycle. At that time, it was a split vote on council.  That motion called for a combined property tax increase of 3.6 per cent (5.5 residential and 1.4 per cent for non-residential) in 2025, and 3.1 per cent (5 per cent residential and 0.9 per cent non-residential) for 2026.

Last week, when asked how the city council might fit another budget request for a third-party review of citizen engagement into an already tight fiscal year, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said it would be one of a number of things they’ll have to examine in the budget, which is already expected to exceed that initial property tax increase.

“There’s going to be a lot of things that we’re looking at in the budget, and the fact that administration did not stick with council direction, which was only a 3.6 per cent increase, and they came back with 4.5 (per cent) that’s going to be the first thing that we discuss,” Mayor Gondek told reporters.  

“The council direction was not followed with this budget. Anything that we need to add additionally will need to be scrutinized very carefully. So, I think there is going to be a very, very comprehensive discussion of what’s being brought forward this year.”

Councillors worried Calgary property tax could be even higher

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean thinks the property tax number will be even higher when the budget dust settles.

“If we accept the increased spending that administration is recommending, yeah, it’s higher,” McLean told LiveWire Calgary.

“Tax and spend; it’s has been a roller coaster.”

McLean said there are two arguments: One is to pay more for better services and amenities, and the other is to look for more efficiencies so they can direct money to priority areas. That’s been difficult, he said. McLean said city officials provided them with a 30-some-page document reviewing areas for potential savings.

“Ninety-five per cent of it was zeroes across the board of trying to find any savings in all of these departments. Government gets bigger. Our budget gets bigger,” he said.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said what he’s been hearing in the community is the city needs to focus on delivering the basics. He said people want roads fixed, grasses mowed and snow cleared.

The questions he’ll be asking this week is how the City of Calgary is prioritizing investments. Dhaliwal said people are more accepting of tax increases if they see the impact the additional cash is having on quality of life. Right now, they’re struggling to see that, as evidenced in the recent Calgary fall satisfaction survey.

“I think what people are telling me is they want to see their (tax) dollars that they’re giving to the city at work.

“They want to see how their life is getting improved. They want to see, as a shareholder, the right to return on their dollars, the capital, the return of the capital invested.”

In the fall survey, 63 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with services delivered by the City of Calgary. That was down six per cent from last fall’s survey.  Infrastructure, traffic and roads topped the list of needs.

Overage is not surprising for some Calgary councillors

Ward 11 Coun. Kourtney Penner said that Calgary city council has been working with administration on the mid-cycle adjustments for a year now. There should be no surprises something like this is coming forward, she said.

“Am I surprised that that’s the number that administration is coming forward with? I am not because these are the conversations we’ve been having, through budget conversations, through Executive Committee for the better part of a year now,” she said.

Penner said the revised number acknowledges some of the economic realities the City of Calgary is facing. She said it’s not even a cost-plus inflation number – one that also has to consider the ongoing population growth.

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot also expected that, at the finish line in late November, the property tax number could exceed 4.5 per cent. He said the 3.6 per cent cap was initially proposed based on population and inflation, and population growth has far exceeded their initial expectations.

One way he thinks they can keep a lid on taxes is by using $16 million in “growth” revenue that was earmarked for the now-dead Green Line.

“In light of the fact that, at this point, there is no certainty around Green Line, why don’t we use that increase in past revenue that was generated from those to offset part of that increase?” Chabot said.

Calgary city council will get the admin budget on Tuesday, and then the budget will be discussed in full, and approved, Nov. 18 to 22.