Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[wireframe]

Originally Posted by Muta

Heard a UCP ad on the Fan960 while driving to work this morning, saying that property taxes doubled under Nenshi, he was bad for Calgary blah blah blah (and that him and Trudeau support each other lol).

Is that claim about taxes even accurate? I don't recall in the slightest my property taxes 'doubling' under Nenshi. I also recall him being an awesome mayor in a variety of ways for this city.

This talking point was a big part of the Bill Smith campaign. Remember that bozo? I looked into it at the time and it's a partial truth. Total property tax revenue doubled under Nenshi, so twice as much money but spread between more people.


(edit: fixed typo)

[Muta]

Then that is an incredibly misleading and disingenuous thing for the UCP to say, but that's par for the course for the worst political party in Canadian history.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

This sorta reads like an Onion article?

Crazy to think the UCP is doing stuff that blends reality with the hijinx of satirical comedy troupes, doesn't it?

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

Some commercial buildings had huge tax increases because the value of downtown real estate plummeted. I don't know if any doubled but residential definitely didn't. Maybe he bought a bigger house or something.

There was also the business tax consolidation that happened during that period, so seeing the shift from business tax over to the non-residential property tax would make the increases seem even bigger.

[Fuzz]

I hope you aren't too shocked the the UCP, and Danielle Smith in particular would lie about taxes. She cut her teeth on that game on the radio, and it worked out so well she became premier. Why stop lying now?

[Tacopuck]

Not doubled but mine went up 75% in the 2015-2021 timeframe.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Tacopuck

Not doubled but mine went up 75% in the 2015-2021 timeframe.

Around 80-ish percent for me, so getting close to being doubled.

[Fuzz]

27% of that is inflation. So 50ish percent. But with the absolute collapse of the oil industry offices, and the need to re-balance between business and home taxes, it makes sense. I think if you want to look, you'd really have to compare how other municipalities(particularity Alberta) did over that time period. Calgarians had the oil industry covering our property taxes for a long time so they were artificially cheap, and you can't put the collapse on city council. But nuance makes for a ####ty radio attack ad.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Tacopuck

Not doubled but mine went up 75% in the 2015-2021 timeframe.

How much did your house go up to the average house?

There was also the shift from commercial to residential.

The only way to compare fairly is to look at city budget with inflation and pop growth removed.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

27% of that is inflation. So 50ish percent. But with the absolute collapse of the oil industry offices, and the need to re-balance between business and home taxes, it makes sense. I think if you want to look, you'd really have to compare how other municipalities(particularity Alberta) did over that time period. Calgarians had the oil industry covering our property taxes for a long time so they were artificially cheap, and you can't put the collapse on city council. But nuance makes for a ####ty radio attack ad.

The collapse of property values in the DT core put a massive hole in the city's wallet. And given they are not allowed to run a deficit by law there are only two ways to make up the shortfall - slash spending or increase taxes. Not sure what the City was supposed to do in this situation, they didn't really have a choice. And yes, taxes here are (were?) ridiculously cheap compared to other Canadian cities. When we moved here and bought our house they were about 1/3 of what my in laws were paying in Regina.

[malcolmk14]

My property tax over the last nine years.

2016 - $4303.14
2017 - $4290.75 (-0.29%)
2018 - $4631.29 (+7.94%)
2019 - $4664.45 (+0.72%)
2020 - $4966.03 (+6.47%)
2021 - $4770.14 (-3.94%)
2022 - $4751.04 (-0.40%)
2023 - $4751.41 (+0.01%)
2024 - $5130.51 (+7.98%)

Total change over 9 years +19.2%

I find it very hard to believe that someones property tax could've gone up 75-80% in ten years without something significant changing. Otherwise why is mine not changing anywhere near that much?

[Fuzz]

Ya, mine is pretty much the median Calgary house, and I'm up 23.9% in 10 years, and that includes adding the best garage in Calgary to the property, along with many other improvements. So accounting for inflation, I'm actually paying less in taxes than I did 10 years ago. Hrmmm, can that be a radio ad?

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Total change over 9 years +19.2%

Mine was only 15%, but looking at the median assessed value, that's gone up by quite a bit more than my property has, so if you break this down based on the median assessment, it is as below. The median taxpayer is now paying 59% more to the city.

In order for properties like yours and mine to have gone up by only 15%, there must have also been those who went up by quite a bit more than the median. I know the price spread between my neighborhood and the NE has narrowed considerably in the past 10 years. There are million dollar showhomes in the NE now.



EDIT: The above is for the municipal portion only.

See here as well: https://www.calgary.ca/property-owne...dian-rate.html

[GGG]

But if your property goes up by greater than median then that isn’t a tax increase. It’s the equivalent of moving into a new tax bracket and saying your taxes went up.

[malcolmk14]

My property has increased by 22.8% in assessed value since 2017.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by GGG

But if your property goes up by greater than median then that isn’t a tax increase. It’s the equivalent of moving into a new tax bracket and saying your taxes went up.

Just throwing a bone to those who said their taxes have gone up by 75%.

The median increase is 59%, so not double.

[malcolmk14]

I don’t know. I have my doubts that someone living in the same house from 2016 to 2024 without any significant change in their property is paying 75% more tax now than they were then. I’d love to see some proof.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Get the parade floats ready!

Alberta UCP to vote on celebrating CO2, and not recognizing it as pollutant

There are two great buildings to see dinosaurs in Alberta: the Royal Tyrell in Drumheller, and the Legislature in Edmonton. Can we have them declare DHMO a pollutant, while we're at it?

Spoiler!

What are some of the dangers associated with DHMO?
Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Nancy

Mine was only 15%, but looking at the median assessed value, that's gone up by quite a bit more than my property has, so if you break this down based on the median assessment, it is as below. The median taxpayer is now paying 59% more to the city.

In order for properties like yours and mine to have gone up by only 15%, there must have also been those who went up by quite a bit more than the median. I know the price spread between my neighborhood and the NE has narrowed considerably in the past 10 years. There are million dollar showhomes in the NE now.



EDIT: The above is for the municipal portion only.

See here as well: https://www.calgary.ca/property-owne...dian-rate.html

I checked the history on a few homes that are currently at/near the current median, compared to where they were in 2014


$480k ('14) - $610k ('24) = +43% in actual tax paid

$449.5 - $612.5. = 53%

$483 - $608 = 41%

No idea if any of these sold over this timespan. But it seems the current median home was decently above median in 2014

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Better do it soon. Most of them are going to die off by having no doctors left in town to see them.

Zis is ze plan...