Council sets course for utility bill hikes in next four-year budget

[calgarywinning]

1. The city raising by up to 17$ a month up to $204 a year by 2020
2. Councillor Farkas says “I continue to hear from my residents that these kinds of increases, they’re just not sustainable. We have property tax increases, utility increases (and) tax increases from every other level of government and we can’t just look at it in a vacuum.”


http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...ur-year-budget

[CaptainCrunch]

My electricity bill alone has gone up huge in the last year. From about $42.00 a month, now its about $53 dollars a month with no change in usage.


Me being careful about electricity usage, turning off lights, keeping my heating low (my unit is electrically heated) still means I'm paying more.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

My electricity bill alone has gone up huge in the last year. From about $42.00 a month, now its about $53 dollars a month with no change in usage.


Me being careful about electricity usage, turning off lights, keeping my heating low (my unit is electrically heated) still means I'm paying more.

Be glad you are not in Ontario. I have a semi detached three bedroom house that is not big at all and I am careful about my electrical usage as well and my bill is about $280.00 a month in the summer.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

My electricity bill alone has gone up huge in the last year. From about $42.00 a month, now its about $53 dollars a month with no change in usage.


Me being careful about electricity usage, turning off lights, keeping my heating low (my unit is electrically heated) still means I'm paying more.

That's a provincial issue, not municipal.

The utility rate increases for the city are water/wastewater.

[Locke]

This is getting ridiculous.

Yeah, they cant look at it in a vacuum, every tax we have and some new ones are going up and up, are wages increasing accordingly?

How are we supposed to be able to constantly afford these increases?

You know what, we're ~4 Million people in Alberta? The vast majority of this Province is wilderness so we're probably a net carbon sink (same applies to all of Canada) so lets can this bogus carbon tax on all levels.

We are blessed with inexpensive energy, why are we killing ourselves over this?

[Regorium]

None of the price increases here are due to the carbon tax.

[White Out 403]

I'm already really just getting by with a family of 4. I'm not sure how much more I can keep paying, especially with interest rates creeping up.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Regorium

None of the price increases here are due to the carbon tax.

Would the agreements that were torn up when the carbon tax came in have anything to do with the increases. I honesty don't know and am asking the question.

[CliffFletcher]

CBC story this morning said the increase would be $200 a month by 2022. Whoops.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Okay, to anyone who is saying/asking anything about electricity and or the carbon tax, it's plainly obvious that you didn't read the article.

This is about water and wastewater, not electricity.

Man, I feel like I say this way too often on this board lately, but if you want to complain, go ahead, but at least make sure you're complaining about the right thing.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

CBC story this morning said the increase would be $200 a month by 2022. Whoops.

Rolled together, the potential hikes would make a $116 monthly utility bill today into a $133 a month bill in 2022. That means a potential increase of $204 a year between now and 2022.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...dget-1.4711639


The sewage one gets me. I grow a garden and pay for loads of water that never hits the sewer. Looking forward to having 2 x 1000 litre tanks for rainwater.


This bit pisses me off though:

The key drivers behind the increases are the cost of the services, the need to upgrade infrastructure and accommodating service to new communities.
Most of the new growth costs are covered through off-site levies paid by developers. But there's a potential $80 million shortfall which will add slightly to the monthly water charge.

I thought this was supposed to be covered by their new levies? Did someone math wrong?

[calgarywinning]

These increases are to fund city coffer. But after the inundation of the Carbon tax, they are still very vehement on continuing on with increases on increases.

It's a populous conundrum. Where people don't say enough is enough. So they continue to wind everything up.

[Reneeee]

Time to build solar panels and wind turbines and then pull the plug on paying the city and Enmax for my electricity usage.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[bizaro86]

This is mostly water and sewer, but their is a municipal access fee on my energy bill. I assume that goes to the city as well?

[Erick Estrada]

I guess the city needed to ensure they can pay for Nenshi’s 2nd pension on our dime.

[tvp2003]

I wonder how our rates compare to, say, Airdrie, Cochrane, etc? Edmonton?

[stampsx2]

The city realized property values aren’t going up any time soon so neither are property taxes. The money will have to come from somewhere. The provincial government certainly doesn’t have any - 90 billion debt.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

The city realized property values aren’t going up any time soon so neither are property taxes. The money will have to come from somewhere. The provincial government certainly doesn’t have any - 90 billion debt.

This isn't the way property taxes work. They are property value neutral.

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by GGG

This isn't the way property taxes work. They are property value neutral.

The only way for the City to fund it's activity is value neutral aggressive valuation of property. Setting the mill rate and increasing it neutrally for an infinity inflation equation.

Then, once you are done that you find other ways to fill the coffer. Utilities is a nice monthly. Then user fee which is an add on to any budgeted government activity. Sewer drain: Checkmark...

Then you neutrally deneuterize the service given, like make it eco friendly with a decaf double caf neutral coffee that is a bearable ounce for the environment.

While i'm at it, instead of measuring waste we are going to have a committee come together and come up with three different garbage container sizes. This is the utopia I dream of.

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

Okay, to anyone who is saying/asking anything about electricity and or the carbon tax, it's plainly obvious that you didn't read the article.

This is about water and wastewater, not electricity.

Man, I feel like I say this way too often on this board lately, but if you want to complain, go ahead, but at least make sure you're complaining about the right thing.

I think the general understanding is an increase categorized or uncategorized is still an increase.

This one hurts a bit because of the Carbon tax increase, followed up by this.