Watch above: As Edmonton City Council looks at the growing pains of a booming city and the struggle to pay for services, the public is getting a first look at the proposed tax increase for next year. Vinesh Pratap reports.
EDMONTON – It may be Halloween, but it appears Edmontonians won’t be in for a treat from the tax man.
Friday at City Hall, councillors got a first look at the 2015 budget documents.
The proposed tax increase for next year is 5.3 per cent.
“These are all starting points, obviously,” said Ward 7 Councillor Tony Caterina.
“These are what administration… is going to lay out in front of us, and then it’ll be up to council to eliminate or even add to those numbers,” he explained.
“We all realize the circumstances now, that we have very little money to work with.
“We do understand too that we want to maintain services, so there’s going to be a trade off of what’s really, really important and what maybe can wait at some point,” said Caterina.
Here’s a look at Edmonton tax increases in the past:
2010: 5% increase (3% for operations, 2% for neighbourhood renewal)
2011: 3.85% increase (2.35% for operations, 1.5% neighbourhood renewal)
2012: 5.39% increase (3.89% for operations, 1.5% for neighbourhood renewal)
2013: 3.3% increase (2.3% for operations, 1.0% for neighbourhood renewal)
2014: 4.92% increase (3.42% for operations, 1.5% for neighbourhood renewal)
PROPOSED 2015: 5.3% increase (3.8% for city operations, 1.5% for neighbourhood renewal)
The proposed tax increase covers not only operational expenses but also the neighbourhood renewal program.
For a single-family home valued at $374,500, that would translate to an increase of $9.17 per month or a total annual property tax bill of $2,184.
“Nobody wants a tax increase,” said Ward 2 Councillor Bev Esslinger.
“But we have to balance with a growing city, how we provide the services… it’s going to be an interesting conversation over the next few weeks as we really work through the budget.
Edmonton’s population has seen an additional 60,000 people move here in the last two years.
“I think our commitment is to keep it as low as we can for people, and that’s where I like to stay.”
READ MORE: Click here to view the full budget documents
Budget deliberations are set to begin at the end of November.
The next capital budget will also be debated.
The city’s proposed 2015-2018 capital budget recommends investment of $4.3 billion on hard infrastructure: new and upgraded libraries, fire stations, and a transit garage; renewal and upgrade of recreation facilities; construction of transportation assets like the Valley LRT line, roads and bridges; and neighbourhood infrastructure like sidewalks and streetscapes.
A public hearing on the proposed budgets will be held on Nov. 24.
Final approval of the two budgets is expected by mid-December.
With files from Vinesh Pratap, Global News
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