Calgarians were staring down the possibility of a 4.7 per cent property tax increase for 2018.
The number was decreed in another era – set as part of a four-year budgeting plan, drafted before the economic downturn became reality.
Earlier this year, city council sent administration back to the drawing board, announcing that such an increase was no longer acceptable. They asked for new numbers which would give them options for a property tax increase between zero and two per cent.
On Friday, city hall delivered.
The budget adjustments for 2018 show that a zero per cent property tax increase is possible, but it won’t be without some pain.
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“Everybody will contribute to the reduction, and it may not be equal and it may not be at the same time,” City of Calgary treasurer and director of finance Carla Male said.
“When administration began to balance this year’s budget, they looked at quite a deep scenario to begin with. And then we took a look at what those service impacts were to that deeper scenario. In some cases, some departments are going to remain at that deeper level.”
In total, the city expects to cut $105 million from its workforce spending, reducing 156 full-time equivalent positions. Some of those cuts will happen by eliminating jobs which are already vacant.
Additionally, $33 million in service reductions and $10 million worth of manageable costs will be cut as part of the budget adjustment. They come from across the spectrum of city services. $10 million in reserves will also be used to close the gap left behind by a zero per cent tax increase.
Among the departments seeing cuts is Calgary Transit. It will be expected to carry on with $6.8 million in cuts through service reductions and trimming of its manageable costs. 27 routes will see service affected as a result, and it’s likely the jobs which support those routes could be affected.
“This is a tough one,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “If you cut the service hours too much, fewer people will use it and you end up in a really vicious circle.”
“However, we have seen some really thoughtful work in transit on rationalizing routes and getting people where they need to go more efficiently that have led to some service savings we’ve been able to re-invest in transit and other places.”
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Not factored into the zero per cent tax increase is the request from the Calgary Police Service (CPS) for additional funding. City administration has left it as an “add-on” package for council to consider.
The add-on would provide $20.8 million to CPS so the force would avoid any possible service reductions under the budget plan while being able to hire additional officers and acquire body-worn cameras. If approved, property taxes would increase by 0.8 per cent.
“A funding increase allows CPS to maintain the services Calgarians expect,” Calgary Police Commission chair Brian Thiessen said. “This is not a situation of trying to throw a bunch of officers at a problem. The service has carefully calibrated what the needs are for new members.”
“If you added 55 members and you look at the attrition the service will expect to experience over the next several years, the service will not grow significantly with those additional members. It is [about] maintaining level of service. It is not a significant increase in the number of members over time.”
Mayor Nenshi said he has every intention of supporting the increase for CPS and is planning to recommend that council do the same.
“I suspect they will approve the police ask,” Nenshi said. “We’ll look at an increase under one per cent, which is … about $1.50 a month for the average house. That’s a lot of value you get for that extra $1.50 a month.”
City council will now begin to go through the budget adjustments and discuss the proposed changes in the coming weeks.
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