More than 20 different budget amendments, motions and referrals are expected later this week, from a group of councillors looking to whittle down Calgary’s property tax increase.

Couns. Sonya Sharp, Jennifer Wyness, Terry Wong, Andre Chabot, and Dan McLean issued a media release Tuesday morning, in advance of Day 2 of Calgary city council budget deliberations, calling for multiple changes to the mid-cycle budget adjustments.

Calgary city council has blocked off this week to debate the budget for 2025, which includes a combined 2025 property tax increase of 3.6 per cent.

One of the changes pitched by Coun. Sharp is the consolidation of the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Operating Officer positions. Sharp said that the budget for the COO office is $2.5 million annually and $4 million for the CAO office.

“We feel like there’s a duplication of roles there. So, consolidate the office budget and retain staff that you need to,” Sharp told LWC.

“I mean, they can figure that out. I’m not here to tell them what to do. I’m here to say there’s cost-cutting.”

Back in 2023, the new COO executive position was added to oversee the public-facing units at the City of Calgary. The idea was to have operational duties lifted from the CAO office, allowing more time to focus on organizational direction.

“We’re calling for a consolidation of these positions and a thorough accounting of discretionary expenses, especially for directors and higher, with the goal to cut these costs in half in the next budget cycle,” said Councillor Sharp.

Coun. Dan McLean wants the city to back areas that are provincial jurisdiction – like affordable housing, mental health and low-income bus passes – out of the City of Calgary’s base budget.

“Moving these out of our base budget and managing them with annual support from favourable variances allows us to prioritize resources for core city services,” McLean said.

Tax shift elimination

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot and Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong will advocate for the elimination of a one per cent property tax shift planned for this year from non-residential to residential taxpayers.

Calgary city council had previously agreed to shift the portion of property tax collected from either non-residential and residential property owners. The 2025 budget proposes a 54.3 per cent residential share, and 45.7 per cent non-residential share. That shifts the amount roughly 0.9 per cent compared to 2024.

During Monday’s public submission, Ruhee Ismail-Teja from the Calgary Chamber of Commerce highlighted the tax shift as an important driver for ongoing business sustainability in Calgary.

“Council’s decision to shift tax one per cent annually was a major step in the right direction,” she said.

“It reflected the growing cost concerns facing businesses and provided much relief to the businesses that drive our economy.”

Coun. Wong said the balance between businesses and homeowners was a challenging one for council to grapple with.

“I’m not against supporting business,” he said on Monday.

“I’m trying to find out, how do we square that circle, especially on the other side of the equation, residents are saying their affordability is being challenged because you’re moving more of that piece to them.”

There’s also a hope to reexamine the city’s move toward electric buses. Coun. Wyness had expressed concern in the past about how electric buses would impact road maintenance budgets. Further, the City of Calgary has had to put a request for proposal out to market again after the prior provider was unable to deliver what’s needed.

The quarter of councillors will also look for more information on capital projects and discretionary spending at the City. Ultimately, Coun. Sharp said that they want to drive this year’s property tax increase down, perhaps even by one per cent. That’s a roughly $20 million trim to the 2025 budget.

“What we’re saying is we need to start trimming the bureaucracy in this organization, and for everyone to understand that we are listening to Calgarians, and we are listening to them because they’re talking about some of these changes,” said Sharp.

None of the amendments have been approved and must be put forward, debated, and then voted on before they’re approved.