City council warns of property tax jump in next budget cycle

Calgary's mayor is warning property owners to brace for a big bump in taxes starting next year, calling the upcoming budget the "toughest in living memory."

On April 15, city council will begin to hash out budget priorities for the next three years.

"All I can tell you at this point is that the numbers are certainly a lot larger than we've seen in the last three-year cycle," Mayor Dave Bronconnier said Tuesday.

Police, fire and emergency medical services, as well as transit and transportation account for 70 per cent of the city's $760-million operating budget. Demand for those services has grown as the city's population has swelled by more than 250,000 in the past decade.

This year's median property taxes come in at about $1,100, but inflation and the city's growth could bump that up by $100 next year.

Ald. Bob Hawkesworth said it's a quality-of-life choice for many Calgarians.

"This is an expensive city for a lot of people and they are finding it difficult and many of them are moving away," he said.

'We're having more and more Calgarians living in our city. We have to provide services to at least a minimum level to that population and that costs money.' —Ald. Gord Lowe

In the last three-year cycle, property taxes jumped by 4.4 per cent in 2006, four per cent in 2007, and 4.5 per cent is on the table for 2008.

Ald. Gord Lowe, chair of the finance committee, predicted rates will go up despite Calgarians' aversion to taxes.

"They don't like their taxes to be increased, they don't like to pay taxes at all," he said Tuesday.

"But on the other hand … they're demanding more and more services. We're having more and more Calgarians living in our city. We have to provide services to at least a minimum level to that population and that costs money."

Both Lowe and Bronconnier pointed out the taxes paid by new neighbourhoods don't cover the services they require.

Calgary currently has the lowest property taxes of any metropolitan centre in Canada, but is second only to Vancouver as the most expensive place to live in the country.