While they’ve been exposed to the basic mechanics of city finances and had documents to review since shortly after being elected, new Calgary city councillors have now started their first budget deliberations.

The current Calgary city council was presented with the updated 2026 budget adjustments at the Nov. 10 Regular Meeting, marking the official start of city budget deliberations.

Most of what happens over the next two weeks is done behind the scenes, as councillors pore over the documents to both familiarize themselves with the financials and find potential areas for savings – or added investment. It’s when they ask questions and craft amendments to the budget before digging in on Nov. 24.

Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth said the budget is the result of months of deliberation and collaboration with the previous city council, and includes what’s been heard in the recent fall satisfaction survey of Calgarians.

“We understand that Calgarians continue to feel today’s economic pressures, whether it’s rising costs, housing affordability, or day-to-day expenses,” he said.

“This budget is about finding the right balance, maintaining affordability while continuing to invest in the core services that matter most to Calgarians.”

The budget itself maintains a combined 3.6 per cent property tax increase, though the property tax increase on a typical single-family home in Calgary went from 5.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent.  Coupled with a proposed 3.9 per cent increase to waste, recycling and utility costs, it means roughly $18.40 more per month for a typical single-family dwelling.

City of Calgary Chief Financial Officer Les Tochor put the total cost into a more digestible perspective.

“On a daily basis, that’s about $12.42, which is just 62 cents more than last year,” he said.

Connecting the survey results with the budget

Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos asked earlier in the day, during a discussion on the fall research results, how Calgarians’ priorities, as ranked in the survey, were reflected in the budget. The example he used was citizens wanting transit safety prioritized, yet he didn’t see it clearly in the budget.

Outside council chambers, he told reporters that it’s “absolutely paramount” that citizens see it in the budget process.

“I think you have to listen to Calgarians as you come through and make any financial decision,” he said.

“We had the benefit of the best review through door knocking, knocking on 50,000 doors. I think some of our council colleagues mentioned that. I think the voice of Calgarians has to be incorporated into any budget, any decision we make.”

Pantazopoulos said that as they dig through the budget, they’ll have to find a way to balance service levels and funding. That might include reviewing and optimizing the delivery of those services, he said.

“When we look at spending, we want to make sure our services stay at worst case flat, best case, they improve,” he said.

“I think it’s sort of that threading that needle where ultimately it’s the balance between spending additional funds, but there has to be a direct line and a direct tie through that there’s better services.”

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot said that it’s tough to expect all of Calgarians’ priorities, as outlined in the fall research survey, to be reflected in the budget. There’s just not enough cash.

“It’s difficult to deliver all of the things that people want and keep taxes low. One of the main things that people wanted is lower taxes, or at least keep taxes as low as possible in order to deliver all of the things that people want, which includes increased frequency on the transit system, better public safety, those things cost money,” he said.

“You can’t reduce the budget and deliver additional services, so something’s going to have to give.”

The tax shift as a means to reduce residential property taxes

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that he’d like to see residential property taxes cut in half for Calgarians. That would mean a reduction of 2.8 per cent for 2026.

One way to do that is to cancel the proposed one per cent tax shift from non-residential properties to residential properties. That tax shift is included as a part of this year’s budget. According to the city, a one per cent shift represents two per cent +/- in property tax.  That means while revenue stays roughly the same, that portion of the tax share would remain with businesses.

The budget would have to be amended to cancel the tax shift it for this year.

“All options are on the table when it comes to this budget. We know that the previous council had targeted a one per cent tax shift from businesses over to homeowners, and that’s been reflected in a very significant increase to homeowners, especially the multi residential properties that are looking at about a 20 per cent year-over-year increase,” Farkas said.

“So, all options have to be on the table. We need to look at ways that we can make Calgary cost effective, not just from the business side, but also affordable for residents.”

The potential for a shift didn’t sit well with Calgary Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Deborah Yedlin. She was asked about it during a visit from Canada’s finance minister on Monday.

“We obviously want to be the most competitive jurisdiction from a business standpoint, and we’d like to see the tax shift continue to shift towards the residential component, because if we don’t, we’re not going to be a place where we can attract businesses, continue to diversify our economy and be competitive in that context,” she said.

Coun. Chabot said the last report council received on the tax shift in September showed that if they didn’t make the shift, the rise to the Municipal Government Act-imposed five-to-one ratio of non-residential to residential tax share would be levelling off anyway.

“For us to continue to do it needlessly, I think, is not the right thing to do,” Chabot said.

“If you look at it, who’s actually benefiting from it, it’s not actually the small businesses that are benefiting from the tax shift. It’s mostly the downtown office towers, the REITs and the multinationals that are benefiting from that tax shift. So, if you’re talking about small businesses, this shift of one per cent is not benefiting them.”

Budget deliberations begin in earnest on Nov. 24 with a brief recap of the administration presentation and then public submissions begin. On Nov. 25, there will be a question-and-answer period based on the four priority areas that administration had identified and made a presentation. On November 26, the main motion will begin debate, with amendments proposed at that time, until the final budget document is complete.