On the eve of budget rollout day, councillors were focused on the outcomes for Calgarians, regardless of what property tax hike citizens face.

Budget documents will be released to the public on Nov. 10, and that kicks off an intense two weeks of public submissions, town halls, and the crafting of amendments to help shape the next four-year Calgary budget.

Earlier this year, Calgary city council approved the preliminary release of what was deemed a wish list budget by Mayor Jeromy Farkas. It was, in fact, a council-directed request of city administration to come back with a budget scenario that contemplated consecutive property tax revenue increases of 15 per cent, 12.5 per cent, nine per cent and six per cent, respectively, from 2027 to 2030.

There’s been no indication from city councillors that they will deviate from those initial numbers when the documents are released.  That means pushing the property tax number down is going to take some creative cutting – either using a scalpel or a hatchet.

Mayor Farkas told reporters on Monday that, once it’s released Tuesday morning, he encourages every Calgarian to take the time to read what’s proposed in the budget.

“There’s significant investments that’ll be required to be able to catch up on our immediate and acute needs and supporting our police service, our Calgary firefighters, our essential infrastructure deficit,” Farkas said.

“But that said, I’m going to be going in eyes wide open to the affordability challenges that we’re facing.”

It’s believed that councillors are clearing their schedules for two weeks starting on Nov. 23, expecting a steady stream of folks for the public hearing and then an extended debate to nail down a new budget.

The mayor wouldn’t commit to a specific tax increase he had in mind, but instead said he’s focused on outcomes.

“I want to be able to tell Calgarians that this budget will address our infrastructure deficit as well as deliver on the safety expectations that Calgarians have,” he said.  

“And for us to drill down into that number, we’re going to have to bring out the Calgary Fire Department, the Calgary Police Service, as well as many of our civic partners and the public themselves to better understand. There’s always trade-offs.”

Areas to cut are up for debate

Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean said there’s no way Calgary property owners want to see double-digit tax increases.

“A double-digit tax increase is unacceptable to Calgarians at this time when they can afford it the least,” he said.

McLean said he’d be targeting things like Calgary’s $35 million Safer Together funding, which he says duplicates police and fire work, and the $40 million in funding that fed the city’s downtown conversion programs.

“We’re throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at something the private sector can do,” he said of the latter.  

“If you want to decrease the vacancy rates downtown, just knock that building down. They’re old, Class-C buildings. They should just be knocked down. Put a park or a Superstore there, not an ugly office conversion.”

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness agreed with McLean on the downtown conversion cash and said city council will need to focus on deliverables this budget. She noted the long-delayed Foothills Multisport Fieldhouse project that has $109 million sitting in the bank waiting for federal and provincial funding support.

“It’s time to free up that money and put it to projects that can actually deliver,” she said, adding that she’s going to bring forward an amendment around that available cash.

She said there’s been a lot of talk around the potential for a 15 per cent property tax increase.

“Calgarians get to watch whether that was a wish list or the actual budget, and they’re going to see it wasn’t a wish list because council is going to have to spend a lot of time working to peel back the tax increase,” she said.

Affordability will be a key driver: Schmidt

Ward 8 Coun. Nathan Schmidt said that when he talks about outcomes for this budget, it’s not necessarily giving out money and hoping for good things to happen.

“We know that dollars equals more sidewalks being repaired, or more roads being paved, or parks being serviced more often,” he said.  

“The tougher items are the ones that are things like housing, where it’s harder for us to measure what those outcomes might be, or public safety with the new Safer Together plan.”

He noted that councillors do have the ability annually to check back on the progress of the money they allocated to see if programs are working.   

“It comes down to affordability for everybody in the city. We know that that’s a struggle for people right now,” Schmidt said.

“For me, that comes down to finding that balance between how much of a burden are we putting on Calgarians to contribute more to receive those services, but also what do those services do for people?”

Once the budget documents are released, Calgarians will be able to begin making their public submissions to the city or arranging to speak at the upcoming public hearing.