Council rejects 'formality' motion to reaffirm next year's property tax increase
Calgary city councillors couldn't find consensus Tuesday on whether to reaffirm their previous commitment to keep next year's property tax hike at 3.6 per cent.
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But according to two members of council, the failed motion was mostly a formality, as well as an exercise in budget transparency.
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When approving the 2023-26 budget in November 2022, council supported a 3.6 per cent property tax increase for 2026, the final year of the four-year budget cycle.
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Those supportive of the motion from Ward 11 representative Kourtney Penner included Mayor Jyoti Gondek, Couns. Raj Dhaliwal, Evan Spencer, Jasmine Mian, Peter Demong and Courtney Walcott.
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'Calgarians want steadiness. They want consistency and they want some predictability,' Penner said, when moving the recommendation.
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Those in opposition to the motion argued that although budget transparency ahead of November is important, it's premature to promise Calgarians in June what type of tax increase they will see the following year.
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Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp, who voted in opposition alongside Couns. Dan McLean, Gian-Carlo Carra, Jennifer Wyness, Terry Wong, Sean Chu and Andre Chabot, said after the meeting she felt the vote was a formality.
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'The direction didn't lose,' she said. 'Administration was already given that direction in 2022.'
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Sharp and others, including Chabot, also disagreed with the 3.6 per cent figure, pointing out it didn't factor in a motion from Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer, which was approved by council last week, to develop an Infrastructure Reinvestment Program. The motion included several considerations to address the city's worsening backlog of deferred maintenance during the 2027-30 budget cycle.
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