Help ensure property taxes fund Calgarians’ priorities

Calgary’s essential public services are funded by our property taxes. We can’t let an election year tax increase cap hurt the services Calgarians rely on.

Despite rising costs caused by high inflation, aging infrastructure, record population growth, and a sweetheart arena deal for a few Calgarian billionaires, City Council is insisting on limiting property tax increases to an average of 3.6%. 

Capping property tax increases below inflation doesn’t reduce costs, it just delays them and reduces the value we see by reducing service levels. Over 35% of your property taxes go directly to the provincial government while only 8% goes toward funding public transportation, almost 7% for fire and emergency services, and a little over 1% funds affordable housing. The City can’t reduce the taxes set by the provincial government so it is public services like these that are at stake when we don’t keep up with rising costs. 

Over the past 5 years Calgary’s property taxes have already increased at a lower rate than property taxes in comparable cities and our taxes have not kept up to inflation. Not to mention that more than 144,000 people moved to Calgary over the past two years. That’s almost a 10% population increase! A property tax increase cap can only mean a reduction in the public services we all rely on. It’s irresponsible to arbitrarily keep taxes below rising costs when there are important public services and infrastructure to pay for. 

We can’t afford to let short term savings undermine the wellness of our city in the long run. We depend on public services like Calgary’s public transportation, recreation facilities, libraries, affordable housing, and firefighting, and we need to fund them to match our growing city.

Here’s how you can help: Send an email to your City Council demanding they protect the public services that Calgarians rely on. 

We’ve already drafted an email for you to send–you can add your thoughts or just fill out the form and send it as is.