Calgary Mulling over user fees for Airdrieites and Okotokians

[Madman]

Originally Posted by fotze

I would be all for that, but it will never happen. Taxes clearly aren't about fairness, never have been, just look at income and inheritance tax.

Oh, exactly. You cannot fault someone for where they have chosen to live within the city.

My other question is, where does this extra-taxation end? Why wouldn't tourists pay this extra tax as well? They come to the city and use the tax-funded infrastructure as well...where is the difference? Someone stated before that it doens't matter if people come to town and spend their money here, because residents already do so.

So do we run the tourism industry off by charging tourists more? Or do we unfairly tax bedroom-communities only?

[Bill Bumface]

First of all, Calgary doesn't really have a bedroom community problem. Our core is very healthy and people aren't deserting the city centre to go live in small towns with less taxes.

That said, the easiest way around it is to eliminate any transit subsidies. Drop everyone's taxes by whatever portion goes to Calgary Transit and make it completely sustained by fares. If this scares people away from the train, then traffic will be worse, and living outside of Calgary will be less desireable. Otherwise you have everyone paying for the service they are using and nobody complaining about it anymore.

[mykalberta]

The simple answer is, all Calgary municipal run facilities should ask for proof of address to prove you are a Calgary resident.

If you cant prove it then you pay say 15% more. If you are a tourist you pay more but they could ask for a refund or something ala some of the States with the Sales Tax.

As per Edmonton, that is a little bit different situation, the first thing that needs to be solved with them is the Refineries property tax should be going to Edmonton and not the County of Strathcona (Sherwood Park). Edmonton has actually done a descent job, they refused pay to widen the road to St Albert so St Albert paid for the road construction.

With Calgary it is more difficult since the surrounding communities use more provincial highways to and from rather than municipal roads. Calgary couldnt place a toll on HW2 where as Edmonton has many points of entry they could put tolls on.

MYK

[Madman]

Why would tourists get a refund? That's my point.

If we are charging outsiders to use anything at all, then why would some outsiders get that charge back? Because of where they reside? Where would the "tourist" zone lie outside? Could I move to High River and be a "tourist"? What about business people who fly/drive in a few times a week from Edmonton? You either have to tax all non-Calgarians somehow or none. You can't simply single out people who have chosen a different lifestyle in a smaller town outside of Calgary.

Maybe residents of Okotoks etc can get some money back from the City. Because the city has become so big and popular, land and housing prices in surrounding areas has risen significantly and therefore so have people's taxes. Or maybe non-residents of small communities should also face a fee when entering town limits...hey, they are driving on roads they don't pay a tax for.

This is a stupid ****ing match from an Alderman who has nothing better to worry about. Dr. Blinks-a-lot has just found something else to be ****ed off about is all.

[Reaper]

As far as implementing any sort of surcharge for non-city residents when it comes to transit I think the only way to do it is to alter the pricing structure for monthly passes and books of tickets.

For instance, a transit pass would be raised to $100 per month for an Adult. The buyer would be eligible for a $30 instant rebate upon showing valid identification with a Calgary address. Ticket books could be raised to $26.00 with an instant rebate of $6.25 upon showing valid identification with a Calgary address.*

There wouldn't be a cost effective way to implement an instant rebate program for cash fares as new fare vending machines would have to be purchased that could scan the bar code on a driver's license or Alberta I.D. card in order to process the discount. I'm not even sure that it would be a feasible plan when all factors were taken into account.

All in all, I don't think that a non-city resident surcharge for transit is a good idea. The percentage of out of town transit users is relatively low (an assumption) and people aren't deserting the city in order to avoid the high costs of Calgary's boom.

* The price increases are completely random and are simply used for illustrative purposes.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by fotze

Why isn't hte LRT like most major cities where you pay more the farther you go?

with how bad the LRT is, you think anyone would be willing to pay more?

[greyshep]

What a messed up municipal govt here.

Lets keep eliminating downtown parking in trying to increase ridership on a already over burdened transit system.

Meanwhile lets look at charging out of towners more for a transit service that is a horrible experience. I will park and walk to work thanks. Though I am sure they will want to charge me to leave my car on a piece of city asphalt that I didnt pay taxes for.

This just seems so juvenile and whiny.

"Its my sandbox, mine, mine." Sounds like a bunch of 5 year olds.


BTW I would love to find out if anyone has moved out of the city to avoid city taxes.(I know I didnt) Do people really believe that taxes are cheaper outside the city? And do they also believe that they will get similar services for their supposedly cheaper taxes???

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Burninator

But shopping in Red Deer does not compare to the shopping in Calgary, or the restaurants, or nightlife, or other services, or...well you get my point. But I see your point as well. So now will the people spending their money elsewhere balance out with the people paying these "transport fees"?

Besides the difficult task of actually collecting these fees, are they even a decent amount worth all this hassle?

I agree with you about the shopping, allthough it is more than adequate. The night life in Red Deer is great though. It is a young town and it is know as a party town as well.

[RougeUnderoos]

The money generated by charging different amounts for transit would be soaked up by the bureaucracy that would be installed to look after such a system.

This all sounds like petty whining on the city's part. Charging people to come into town? Come on. If we start down that road then the good people of Red Deer will soon figure it out and they'll put a toll booth on the north and south ends of their city and really clean up.

[JimmytheT]

It's a no-brainer, so Silly Hall suits should have no problems scratching their craniums and solving this puzzler.

This is possibly, the worst opening sentence in the history of the printed page. The Calgary Sun is a shameful rag that only has value as insulation for homeless people.

As for the topic at hand, I think it is ridiculous and irrelevant; why charge people in the surrounding areas that bring their wealth into the Calgary Economy?

I don't understand why City Hall is not doing more things to reduce urban sprall. My parents place in Calgary takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to after I enter the City Limits from the North on Highway 2 (they live in Evergreen Estates), and that's when there are no traffic problems.