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Keep one thought in mind when city council meets this week to discuss whether to increase your property taxes from the already outrageous 6.6 per cent they approved last November to that astronomically outrageous 8.7 per cent administration is asking for now. The city’s demand for even higher taxes is a sign they are sure they can spend your money better than you can.
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The administration is delusional to start with.
Two weeks ago, when the city’s chief financial officer, Stacey Padbury, released administration’s sky-high spring tax request, she said the city had already pared operations to the bone. She insisted that, since 2015, the city has trimmed $2 billion from its operating budget. There is no fat left.
Really!? This claim that the city has cut $2 billion in operating expenses must be the best-kept secret in town. There’s little evidence of it in the city budget.
In 2015, the city’s operating budget was just under $2.4 billion. Now it’s closer to $3.4 billion.
Sure, our city has grown rapidly. And under the federal Liberals inflation has been the worst in 40 years. Still, the increase in the operating budget doesn’t make the city appear like an organization that’s done a whole lot of belt-tightening.
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But let’s get back to my first contention. Asking for a massive tax increase — even more massive than the one approved last fall — is proof the city thinks it has a greater claim on your money than you do.
You want fresh produce for your family for dinner? Are you kidding? We, the city, want to spend more millions on nighttime bus service in far-flung corners of the city.
You’re not going to hold it against us, are you, that we wasted tens of millions on electric buses that don’t work?
Surely you can see how our desire to provide after-hours transit is more important than your selfish little struggle to keep up with grocery prices.
Sure, we at the city have nearly 200 senior managers, but do you really think we should cut back on our staffing budget just so you can better afford your rising electricity? Your mortgage payments? Gas for your car?
How miserly and uncaring are you?
Administration wants a gigantic tax increase just so it doesn’t have to make the same kind of tough budgetary sacrifices ordinary Edmontonians make every day.
Have you had an 8.7 per cent increase in your income this year? If not, then the administration’s requested tax increase will make you poorer. It will leave you with less money in your pocket than last year. Period.
Also recall that Padbury and the administration have said this is a stand-pat request. This increase would not improve city services, but rather merely keep them at the same level as they are now.
For instance, if you think snow clearing in winter and road repair in summer are mediocre at best, if you find parks unusable at times in the summer because the grass isn’t cut often enough and the city no longer sprays for mosquitoes, administration is basically telling you, “get used to it.”
You’ll be paying more — a lot more — for the same modest levels of service.
And it doesn’t stop with 8.7 per cent this year. Administration wants 7.0 per cent more next year and 6.4 per cent the year after that. Because each year’s increase compounds on the one before it, that’s a cumulative increase of nearly 24 per cent — in just three years!
Here’s what I think council will do. They will approve an increase in the range of 7.6 per cent and hope hard-pressed taxpayers say, “Whew, at least it wasn’t 8.7!”
Don’t be fooled.
lgunter@postmedia.com
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GUNTER: Reasons for Edmonton's proposed 8.7 per cent tax increase don't add up
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23.04.2024
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
Keep one thought in mind when city council meets this week to discuss whether to increase your property taxes from the already outrageous 6.6 per cent they approved last November to that astronomically outrageous 8.7 per cent administration is asking for now. The city’s demand for even higher taxes is a sign they are sure they can spend your money better than you can.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
The administration is delusional to start with.
Two weeks ago, when the city’s chief financial officer, Stacey Padbury, released administration’s sky-high spring tax request, she said the city had already pared operations to the bone. She insisted that, since 2015, the city has trimmed $2 billion from its operating budget. There is no fat left.
Really!? This claim that the city has cut $2 billion in operating expenses must be the best-kept secret in town.........
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