The discovery of 11th-hour investment income and internal savings has allowed the City of Calgary to keep the 2025 property tax increase at the council-imposed combined 3.6 percent.

Up until last week, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she was concerned that city administration was coming back with a 4.5 per cent combined property tax increase, 0.9 per cent higher than what council had approved both in the four-year budget and reaffirmed earlier this year.  (Combined property tax includes both residential and non-residential increases.)

“To that end, Mayor Gondek, thank you for challenging my team and I over the last two months to find a way to refine administration’s recommendations,” said Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth, in the opening council budget presentation.

Now, owners of a single-detached residential property valued at a preliminary $700,000 will pay $2,665 for municipal taxes, a 3.9 per cent increase over 2024. Condo owners will take a bigger hit, with those at a preliminary assessed value of $360,000 paying $1,370, or a 10.5 per cent increase.

 For the median single-family homeowner ($700,000 value) it means a monthly projected increase of $8.37 for a total of $214 for the year.  Water and wastewater and recycling costs will also be rising, with the average user paying an additional proposed $5.09 per month.

This property tax value also includes the previously approved one per cent property tax shift from non-residential to residential property owners.