2018 Property Tax

[cam_wmh]

Our commercial property taxes, are killing small business.

Blanket city employee 10-15% wage reductions. Don’t like it? Find a job in the private sector, and reset your expectations.

[chemgear]

Nenshi's "plan" is to pan everybody else and still hoping and wishing for magical money to show up. Money that the province has already told him isn't coming.

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...cil-colleagues

“I believe that new plan goes too hard, too fast for marginal improvements,” said Nenshi in a statement posted on his Facebook Saturday.

North-central Calgary Coun. Jyoti Gondek, who was not a signatory to Friday’s proposal but supports it, criticized Nenshi’s reaction.

“Leadership means knowing when to push your own ideas, and when to regroup as a collective because an emergency is calling for immediate action,” she wrote Saturday in a series of messages posted on Twitter.

“To not support this collaborative effort signals an unwillingness to put self-interest aside in the face of a crisis for the business community.

Nenshi’s statement received more than 200 comments within hours of being posted, the majority of which were negative, with some even calling for his resignation.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said he has never seen such public discontent with Calgary council, and specifically the mayor, for at least the last 24 years.

“If there was an election this fall, he’d be in a lot of trouble.”

The $190-million strategy would find a reduction of $60 million in the municipal budget and seek another $60 million in assistance from the provincial government, something the new UCP government has ruled out.

“That’s not a plan, that’s a wish,” said Bratt. “The provincial government isn’t going to give him the money. It’s just not going to happen. If that’s his plan, you might as well ask for the federal government or the American government to bail you out.”

[chemgear]

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-b...axes-1.4458943

Calgary business owners rally outside City Hall to protest high taxes

A number of local business owners who say they are frustrated, anxious and confused over the city's crippling tax rate are rallying outside City Hall on Monday morning.

The event, organized by Kristi Stuart of Barre Belle Studios, is taking place before council holds a debate to discuss the best course of action to resolve the issue.

She says many Calgary business owners love what they do, but they need to be profitable.

Last week, a tax deal to help businesses was agreed on by councillors and appeared to be moving forward until Mayor Nenshi threw cold water on it with a post on Facebook on Saturday.

[CPK80]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Our commercial property taxes, are killing small business.

Blanket city employee 10-15% wage reductions. Don’t like it? Find a job in the private sector, and reset your expectations.

This would be Chaos... First you can't change the Unionized employee's wages, so the only group you would be able to change would be the Management exempt employees (Supervisors and higher) and many of them would leave when there staff are making a higher wage. Then trying to fill those positions would be extremely tough as people would have to take a wage cut to move up.

[Robbob]

I know it may be hard with the unions, but a wage freeze over the last 5 years would have helped, but that ship has sailed. I know a lot of public workers that aren't in unions have had their wages frozen since 2014.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by CPK80

This would be Chaos... First you can't change the Unionized employee's wages, so the only group you would be able to change would be the Management exempt employees (Supervisors and higher) and many of them would leave when there staff are making a higher wage. Then trying to fill those positions would be extremely tough as people would have to take a wage cut to move up.

What am I missing? Reading this page, all the CBA's expired Jan 2018.

https://www.calgary.ca/cfod/hr/Pages...entatives.aspx

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Our commercial property taxes, are killing small business.

Blanket city employee 10-15% wage reductions. Don’t like it? Find a job in the private sector, and reset your expectations.

And while we're at it, let's bump them up to eight hours per day, five days per week. That post for the cycling coordinator was outrageous - not because of the annual wage as they were looking for a highly-qualified professional, but because the hours were ridiculous:

annually for a 35-hour work week with an extra day off every three weeks

Fata that. Government employees have sweet contracts (don't get me started on teachers working 3/4 of a day, 2/3 of a year for full-time pay) where they work less and less and get paid more than their private-sector counterparts. All while thinking they have it rough and are giving up something to be 'civil servants'. Let's cut these salaries and benefits, and get back to eight hours per day, five days per week. If you're going to have an easy government job with low expectations of productivity, the pay should be commensurate with that.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Sliver

And while we're at it, let's bump them up to eight hours per day, five days per week.

Man, I wish I only worked those hours.

[Fuzz]

Ya, when I was looking at city jobs they all say "a standard 35 hour work week". WTF? Maybe in France that's standard. Not around these parts though.

[cam_wmh]

This City Council, was all about job preservation this past election.

Implementing the radical tax reform, BEFORE this year, would've been political suicide. Renewing any of the CBA's, would've been political suicide. This storm has been brewing for at least 3 years, and for the incumbent council, to share that this budget is a new 2019 problem, is grossly disengenous.

Candidly & in hindsight, I regret my vote to Nenshi.

[GordonBlue]

someone thought there should have been a wage freeze for the last 4-5 years.

maybe there was. are they certain that city workers had a wage increase every year?

I'm a union worker in alberta, and I haven't had a wage increase in 5 years, along with the benefits slowly eroding.
I think people often just assume that union workers get more money every year.

[ken0042]

I am pretty sure the shorter work week is a result of cutting wages at some point. Although the recent posting shows the annual salary, the actual contract is in dollars per hour. For the job postings they use annual salary so that nobody does the math based on a supposed 40 hour week.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ya, when I was looking at city jobs they all say "a standard 35 hour work week". WTF? Maybe in France that's standard. Not around these parts though.

they are at work for 8 hours a day and get paid for 7 as there is an unpaid hour for lunch.
they're still only getting paid for the time they work.

you want them at a 40 hour work week then you'd have to pay them for that extra hour. unless you're suggesting they work longer for the same money. what would that be, about a 9% pay cut?

[Fuzz]

As unionized city employees ring in the new year with a four per cent raise (which follows a 3.5 per cent hike in 2016, 3.2 per cent jump in 2015 and 1.8 per cent increase in 2014)

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...fun-mayor-says

he new contract, which must still be formally signed, will freeze wages for two years — covering 2018 and 2019 — followed by an increase of 1.5 per cent in the final year.

https://edmontonsun.com/news/local-n...d-88e6fa004a1c



2014:1.8%
2015: 3.2%
2016: 3.5%
2017: 4%
2018: 0%
2019: 0%
2020: 1.5%



I think that's how it went.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...fun-mayor-says



https://edmontonsun.com/news/local-n...d-88e6fa004a1c



2014:1.8%
2015: 3.2%
2016: 3.5%
2017: 4%
2018: 0%
2019: 0%
2020: 1.5%



I think that's how it went.

wow. lucky dogs. that's a huge wage increase the last 6 years.

typical from that article. the union bosses complaining about the wage freeze and how unfair it is, while the actual workers voted for it.

obviously the majority of workers appreciate being employed and preferred a wage freeze to having potential layoffs.

[transplant99]

Even councilors understand the leadership of nenshi is non-existent.

Good.

North-central Calgary Coun. Jyoti Gondek, who was not a signatory to Friday’s proposal but supports it, criticized Nenshi’s reaction.

“Leadership means knowing when to push your own ideas, and when to regroup as a collective because an emergency is calling for immediate action,” she wrote Saturday in a series of messages posted on Twitter.

“To not support this collaborative effort signals an unwillingness to put self-interest aside in the face of a crisis for the business community.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

they are at work for 8 hours a day and get paid for 7 as there is an unpaid hour for lunch.
they're still only getting paid for the time they work.

you want them at a 40 hour work week then you'd have to pay them for that extra hour. unless you're suggesting they work longer for the same money. what would that be, about a 9% pay cut?

I'm saying they should be hired for an actual standard 40 hour week, not a 35 hour week. It's not worknig an 'extra' hour, it's working a standard day. It always costs more to hire a new employee than to use the ones you've got, so it would save money by needing fewer employees.


Not rocket science here.


I think it was at least 10 years ago I saw the "standard" 35 hour thing, so it isn't new.


And I' not sure how this justifies anything:

they are at work for 8 hours a day and get paid for 7 as there is an unpaid hour for lunch.
they're still only getting paid for the time they work.

The rest of us are at work 9 hours a day and get paid for 8.

[burn_this_city]

Most private sector folks making more than minimum wage haven't had a salary increase since 2014. The public sector seems disconnected from reality when you have a 13% increase in salary over the same time frame.

[cam_wmh]

More good reading.
https://www.calgary.ca/CA/cmo/Pages/...isclosure.aspx

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...fun-mayor-says

Workers in city hall’s largest union will receive a four per cent pay raise in 2017 but several councillors are warning city staff not to expect the same generosity when contract talks for a 2018 agreement begin.

Ironically, Nenshi's messaging is spot on. It's as if he had the foresight, that the 18/19 budgets would be heavily debated, and tumultuous.

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Man, I wish I only worked those hours.

Reviewing this CPS compensation disclosure, I'd apply 10% reduction to all positions EXCEPT for entry level Constable.
https://www.calgary.ca/cps/Documents...Disclosure.pdf

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm saying they should be hired for an actual standard 40 hour week, not a 35 hour week. It's not worknig an 'extra' hour, it's working a standard day. It always costs more to hire a new employee than to use the ones you've got, so it would save money by needing fewer employees.


Not rocket science here.


I think it was at least 10 years ago I saw the "standard" 35 hour thing, so it isn't new.


And I' not sure how this justifies anything:


The rest of us are at work 9 hours a day and get paid for 8.

doubt it would happen.

what's happening that I see is the working weeks getting shorter. (in the fields I'm involved with, anyway)

instead of hiring a full time continuing staff, there is more of a transition to casual staff who do the same jobs but are not eligible for the benefits.
plus by giving them less hours, they don't hit their casual hour totals to get bumped up for compensation and added benefits.

to make up for less total overall hours being worked, they just add to the workload of those who are there. I've lost track of the people who retired and the position was just eliminated, or those who had their jobs "displaced" and the work just handed to others.

Calgary could probably just do the same sort of thing, even if they have to hasten it by offering a buyout to get some expensive older people out the door. rewrite the job descriptions, lower the salary expectations and benefits.

seems places more often value low paid employees over knowledgeable, productive employees.