Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
To be clear, the courts ruled the tax was fine to proceed. It's the UCP stepping in with likely changes to the MGA that will prevent it.
Ballpark math based on numbers elsewhere in the article suggest it would have raised an extra $6M or so per year from all 2nd homeowners (so a little over $5M net). It's probably more like $2.4M if it's non-Albertans, and who knows if/how much the admin costs would be reduced?
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The courts actually blocked the tax from being implemented in 2025 because that was too rushed. Second homeowners won that in 2024, the Town spent $1 million, and they brought in $0 revenue. We didn't pay a penny all last year.
Courts okayed it to start in 2026, but that was appealed in December 2025. Ruling hasn't been made on that, yet, but is expected within the next month or two, so the tax is on shaky footing with that appeal and it is toast for Albertans with the UCP intervening.
So the tax was schedule to begin January 1, 2026. On January 6, 2026, the Mayor tabled a motion to exempt Albertans from the tax and it passed unanimously by all councilors. Goodbye tax for Albertans. It'll collapse for non-Albertans now, too.
The Town took a big L.