Some Calgarians are getting sticker shock when they open their 2016 property tax bills, which were mailed out last week.
Heather Morris is holding down three part-time jobs to make ends meet, and now her property taxes have risen by almost $100 per month.
She owns a home in Renfrew appraised at $700,000 for 2016.
Her taxes are going up from $3,700 to $4,800 a year. Morris says it’s a hardship for her to pay the extra amount.
“I can’t handle it – it’s soon going to be in a position (where either) I buy …a loaf of bread or I pay my taxes and taxes are not negotiable,” Morris said.
Some homeowners are paying more than 50 per cent over last year, largely because the city collects taxes on behalf of the Alberta government.
“We have to pass it on to tax payers, so the provincial portion of your property tax bill is going up 10 per cent. The municipal portion is only going up by three-and- a-half per cent,” Ward 10 councillor Andre Chabot said.
Many Calgarians are voicing their frustration on social media.
The projected 2017 tax hike is 4.7 per cent, but some councillors want that cut back if possible to just over three per cent.
They are asking city managers to prepare a report for next month to show what the impact of that cutback would be on municipal services.
So just where do your property taxes go?
The city has an online calculator to help you figure out it out.
For example, if your annual tax bill is around $3,800, about 40 per cent of that — more than $1,500 — is going to the province. The next big ticket item is policing at $506.
The itemized list includes everything from transit and garbage pick-up to roads and recreation.
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