Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas is floating the idea of a city-wide plebiscite on the amount of property taxes the city sends the provincial government, as city council mulls its options to respond to the latest provincial budget.
Farkas made the comments during a special meeting of council Wednesday, in which city councillors discussed the impacts of the provincial budget on Calgarians.
“Asking any question of Calgarians is very serious, but we want to continue to fight for our fair share,” Farkas told reporters following the meeting.
Last week, the provincial government tabled its 2026 budget, which included a $9.4 billion deficit as well as a $200 million increase to the amount of property taxes it collects from Calgarians to cover the education budget.
The province expects to generate $3.6 billion from the education property tax this year; $1.2 billion of that has been requisitioned from the City of Calgary and $639 million from the City of Edmonton.
When combined with the reduced 1.6 per cent property tax increase approved by city council last year, the typical homeowner in Calgary will pay an additional $388 this year, while the average commercial property will face a hike of $2,945 in 2026.
“The fact that Calgarians are paying double what the City of Edmonton pays, there’s something wrong there,” Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos said. “I think it’s a bit disappointing.”
According to data presented to council Wednesday, the provincial property tax requisition from Calgary has increased by 58.6 per cent over the last four years.
“We’ve seen nowhere near a 60 per cent boost in the services or the infrastructure that the City of Calgary receives from the province,” Farkas said.
City officials told council that many of the funding requests from the City of Calgary went unfulfilled in this year’s provincial budget, including cost-sharing for utility and transportation infrastructure for Prairie Economic Gateway, an increase of support for the low-income transit pass, and matching funding for the city’s mental health and addictions strategy.
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However, officials said the province did boost funding for the Affordable Housing Partnership Program, as well as to build 14 new schools in Calgary.
In response, a spokesperson for Alberta’s education minister said both major school boards in Calgary will receive $2.24 billion in operating funding this year, and the new schools bring the total to 45 projects underway in the city. They also noted a $144 million investment for Calgary charter schools in the budget.
“So clearly the province is investing far more than it receives from Calgarians, back into the city’s school system,” Garrett Koehler said in statement.
The statement went on to say the province understands the mayor’s “desire to ensure that property taxes are transparent and that Calgarians understand how they are used to improve the services they receive.”
“I’m not here to defend the province,” Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean told reporters. “But everybody asked for more teachers, more schools, more supports, and that comes at a cost.”
To help differentiate between the municipal and provincial property tax increase, Farkas suggested the City of Calgary send out two separate bills to homeowners and businesses.
City officials said the provincial property tax increase will be larger and bolded on upcoming bills, but legislation prevents the city from sending multiple bills.
Some on council questioned the purpose of Wednesday’s special meeting, which ended with few actions to respond to the provincial property tax increase.
“Just performative, we didn’t really accomplish anything today,” Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston said. “A lot of questions could’ve been sent through an email.”
However, experts suggest the city is limited in its ability to respond to the budget because municipalities fall within provincial jurisdiction.
“There’s a lot of latitude for the province, and not much, at least jurisdictionally in terms of actual powers that belong to the municipal government,” said Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Mount-Royal University in Calgary.
“But I think there’s something that can be done politically, and that’s exactly what I think (city council) is trying to do.”
During the meeting, Farkas asked about the potential for a plebiscite on the issue, and made the comparison to the referendum question from the province to remove equalization payments from the Canadian Constitution during the 2021 municipal election.
However, no formal motion was introduced to start the process or craft a question to be considered for a vote.
City chief returning officer Kate Martin said Elections Calgary would require six months from the time a question is determined to hold a vote, which could cost upwards of $12 million.
“At this point, we’re just asking questions,” Farkas said.
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