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City Council to use $52 million on flood repair

CALGARY – City council has voted in favour of using an unexpected multimillion dollar tax surplus on local flood repair costs.

Councilors announced in April they would have an extra $52 million to spend, due to a discrepancy in taxes.

Originally, the mayor and city councilors debated five different uses for the money, including the lowering of tax rates for businesses – and investing in maintenance for older neighbourhoods.

They also held a series of public consultations to see how taxpayers thought the money would be best spent.

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However, after the city was rocked by devastating flooding in late June, the mayor put forth a motion suggesting council should use the money to rebuild Calgary.

On Monday, councilors voted in favour of Nenshi’s motion.

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The city has pegged the initial cost of the flood at $256.6 million, including damages to major parks, the Calgary Zoo, riverbanks and City Hall.

Initially, Nenshi had also suggested they should combine the windfall with another $52 million budgeted for next year, to give councilors a total of $104 million to use for flood mitigation and prevention.

However, councilors decided against that, and voted instead to discuss how to use the $52 million budgeted for 2014 in November, after the civic election.

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