Proposed Calgary budget adjustments would see 3.6% property tax increase

The city is proposing a 3.6 per cent property tax increase as part of its budget adjustments for 2025.

It had earlier projected a 4.5 per cent overall tax hike, but administration said it has made some changes in order to roll that back slightly, including by using millions of dollars of income from its investments.

In September, senior officials suggested that next year's property tax increase would need to be bumped up due to growth demands. 

But on Tuesday morning, officials said they would be able to maintain the council-approved increase of 3.6 per cent. 

"Since September, we've closely examined our investments and funding priorities, employing various strategies to identify internal funding and efficiencies," said Les Tochor, the city's acting chief financial officer, in a release. 

"By identifying additional investment income, we eliminated the additional 0.9 per cent property tax increase proposed in September, reducing the 2025 property tax increase to council's pre-approved 3.6 per cent."

Under the proposed plan, owners of condos would see the biggest percentage change, with condo owners of a typical assessed value of $360,000 paying $1,370, or a 10.5 per cent increase.

City administration is also proposing an increase in user fees for waste and recycling and for water, stating that it would fund infrastructure for those services.

The city says that for a typical single residential property assessed at the median value of $700,000 in 2025, with average water usage, the owner would pay an estimated additional $8.37 in property tax and $5.09 in waste and recycling and water utilities per month.

Investment income

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she was interested to learn more about how administration came up with its new strategy.

"We have understood that it's because of investment income. Some of my questions are going to be around, have we not been predicting investment income properly in the past?" Gondek said.

"Ultimately, I have to say it's very good news that administration came back following council direction. I was not impressed."

On Tuesday, David Duckworth, Calgary's chief administrative officer, said the proposed budget adjustments were intended to align with the priorities of residents. 

"Mayor Gondek, thank you for challenging my team and I over the last two months to find a way to refine administration's recommendations," Duckworth told council.

Coun. Andre Chabot said he also had questions about the use of investment income.

"A couple of years ago, we saw that our investment income was significantly lower than projected. So, how do you bank on something, on a permanent basis, when it's something that's unpredictable?" said Chabot, councillor for Ward 10.

During Tuesday's council meeting, Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp asked Duckworth why administration hadn't realized investment income was an option sooner.

"We've been speaking internally, the finance team has been working on this," Duckworth said. "We've just recently been able to solidify, to identify additional funding to bring that extra 0.9 per cent down."

The city has said its funding priorities include infrastructure, housing, public safety and transit services, while noting that pressure has been increasing on the city given its rapidly-expanding population.

Council is set to begin its annual budget debate on Nov. 18.