Quote:
Originally Posted by JobHopper
The big issue for me and what I want to hear from Mayor Nenshi in his campaign is taxes and how much are they going to be going up if at all. I can't believe that they can raise taxes anymore. They have to find other solutions.
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The Mayor in the last budget cycle lobbied Council for and got about $108 million in efficiencies in a $3b operating budget. Operating spending has gone up by about 2.7-3.0% per year over his term. Considering Calgary grows by about 2.5-3.0% in population each year and faces inflation (municipal costs - things like fuel/labour) we're actually getting the same or more services for less dollars per citizen.
Property tax revenues tend to rise at a higher rate than actual spending increases as about half the budget is not taxation - but is user fees, business taxes, investments and other revenues that tend to be more fixed or do not necessarily rise with inflation.
Tax revenues at the provincial and federal governments have risen at almost exactly the same rate as your municipal taxes over the last couple decades, but since it's largely income, corporate and consumption based - it automatically keeps up with economic and population growth, whereas the City has to manually adjust the mill rate to derive the revenue it requires (as such it makes headlines the way that Provincial and Federal tax revenue increases do not).
Aside from pushing efficiencies through the budget process, the Mayor has done several things like introduce Zero Based (Budget and Operating) Reviews of every business unit in the City. Two of the largest departments by budget and personnel Parks and Roads are up next. Of course his Cut Red Tape program is ongoing and will continue to be embedded in the normal practices within the City going forward. The cost of growth is also another big determinant of being able to keep everyone taxes down. Quite simply growing more efficiently will make it a more efficient (cheaper) city to run. A big focus of the Mayor.