5 Calgary councillors call for budget amendments to freeze property taxes

Five of the councillors debating the City of Calgary's proposed budget for next year are calling for 20 amendments, which they suggest could roll back the 3.6 per cent property tax hike.

According to a news release sent Tuesday morning, councillors Sonya Sharp, Dan McLean, Jennifer Wyness, Andre Chabot and Terry Wong are planning to present various amendments this week, as budget deliberations enter their second day at city hall.

Though the full list of amendments hasn't yet been revealed, Sharp says none of the amendments would affect front-line services that Calgarians rely on.

"We really wanted to make sure we weren't impacting transit, safety, front-line services. We went deeper in and said, 'What are things that won't affect Calgarians right out front?' We're not going in to cut transit, we're not cutting police or fire," Sharp told reporters at city hall on Tuesday. 

"We looked at the document and said, 'yeah this makes sense to Calgarians, they want all of these things, so what are other ways we can find savings in the corporation?'"

One of the key amendments, which is being proposed by councillors Sharp and McLean, is to combine the city's chief administrative officer (CAO) and chief operating officer (COO) positions — roles held by David Duckworth and Stuart Dalgleish, respectively, to "eliminate redundant, high-cost roles," reads the release.

Duckworth, who is in charge of the structure of administration's bureaucracy, created the new COO position just over a year ago, and appointed Dalgleish, who already worked within the city, with no changes to his pay. 

Duckworth also changed his title from city manager to CAO, conforming with the position's legal name in the Municipal Government Act and aligning Duckworth with his counterparts in other municipalities in the province as well as elsewhere in Canada.

The changes, according to the city, were intended to improve focus on service delivery.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek told reporters on Tuesday that the decision to change any jobs in city administration would fall to Duckworth, and that while councillors can advise Duckworth, the decision is ultimately his to make.

"That is not the call of city council," said Gondek, adding that operations within the city are separate from the city's governance procedures.

Tax shift, electric buses

Another significant proposal comes from Ward 10's Chabot and Ward 7's Wong, who want to eliminate the proposed one per cent tax shift from business to residential properties, in order to reduce the tax hike for homeowners.

Also according to the news release, councillor Wyness is concerned about the city's plan to purchase electric buses, which she believes will cost more than other bus types and cause further wear on the city's roads. 

She, along with McLean, is asking the city to shift from buying new electric buses to acquiring compressed natural gas vehicles, despite funding agreements that were already signed with other levels of government.

McLean was asked if federal capital was contingent on Calgary Transit adding electric buses to replace older diesel vehicles in its fleet.

"In a perfect world, that grant money would then go to something maybe more effective and efficient than electric buses," he said.

Amendments 'not collaborative,' says mayor

When it comes to next year's budget, Gondek said maintaining the 3.6 property tax increase and what council already committed to two years ago will be important for essential infrastructure and services, even though the city's population has skyrocketed and inflation has ballooned since then.

"For us to be able to hold the line at 3.6 means that we're still not able to provide full level of servicing in many areas that Calgarians need, but we're keeping our promise knowing that people are in an affordability crunch."

If approved by council, the proposed 3.6 per cent increase would see the owner of a median-priced home worth $700,000 paying about $8 more per month in municipal property tax. 

Gondek added that if there are savings to be had, council should consider them, but she's waiting to see the full list of proposals. 

"We have spent a year working on this budget, collaborating with each other. We have an executive committee that is designed to look at budget every month. At that time, none of this was brought up," said Gondek.

"So you spend all this time with your colleagues, never bring any of these ideas forward, and then you spring it on us at the last minute during budget deliberations. That doesn't look like you've been thoughtful. It doesn't look like you're organized, and it's certainly not collaborative."

With only five councillors named on the news release but eight votes needed to pass a change to the budget, McLean says he expects other councillors to agree with their "common sense initiatives."

"It is an election year, so hopefully the will of the council will be to find some additional savings … without sacrificing any services to the public," McLean told reporters.