Adam MacVicar

Alberta municipalities gather in Calgary, debate call for province to collect own property tax | Globalnews.ca At the 2025 Alberta Municipalities Convention, a featured resolution calls on the province to collect its own education property tax, currently included on municipal tax bills.

Alberta municipalities gather in Calgary, set to debate call for province to collect own property tax

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More than 1,200 delegates from over 260 municipalities across Alberta are in Calgary this week for this year’s Alberta Municipalities conference. I’m told about half of attendees are new this year following significant electoral turnover across the province.

Global Calgary is broadcasting the Field of Crosses Remembrance Day ceremony. It starts at 10:30am. You can watch it here: fieldofcrosses.com/live-stream/

2026 budget presented to Calgary city council, mayor vows to cut property tax increase - Calgary | Globalnews.ca As proposed, Calgary's 2026 budget would result in an extra $18.40 per month for the typical residential property, which includes an increase in waste fees and water utilities.

2026 budget presented to Calgary city council, mayor vows to cut property tax increase

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Proposed 2026 Budget document: pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com/filestream.a...

Here's how city administration is paying for the additional spending in public safety, transit, infrastructure and housing in the 2026 budget.

City administration says there is $60M in "provincial expenditure pressures" in this budget. This includes $28M due to the removal of photo radar, and $31M for "low-income transit pass, day spaces and outreach."

Calgary city services costs compared to Edmonton and Vancouver.

Preliminary numbers around the monthly costs of the proposed 2026 property tax increase.

Preliminary numbers around the proposed 2026 property tax increase broken down by property type.

Council is now getting a presentation on the proposed 2026 budget from City of Calgary chief financial officer Les Tochor.

Spoke too soon - they're taking a break first and starting budget right after lunch.

Council is now moving into the the 2026 proposed budget presentation.

Original process stands when it comes to public submissions.

Amendment is defeated 0-15.
Johnston also voted against his own amendment.

Coun. Johnston says people can say what they want in public hearings anyway. He says his concern was some submissions would be redacted unnecessarily. He said council should be privy to ever submission - which it sounds like they are under the current process.

Ward 13 Coun. McLean says people have the freedom to speak and he understands the intent of the amendment. But says admin pre-screening helps speed up the process to protect council from liability.

Ward 5 Coun. Dhaliwal says they're trying to cut down on in-camera meetings and this amendment creates more behind closed door meetings.

Farkas says that when he was a councillor, he would go to clerks/legal team if he found a public submission that shouldn't be redacted and should be allowed to be released publicly.

Ward 8 Coun. Schmidt asking clarifying questions about the original process and council's ability to see what has been determined defamatory and hate speech. City solicitor says it opens the door to legal liability, but tough to know without any submissions yet.

City solicitor outlined her concerns and did have input in the amendment. She says there are liability risks. This motion is purely about the written and audio-visual submissions.

Johnston says there's always a risk from public speakers, and he wants to remove administration's "safeguard of that speech" and would prefer those written/audio-visual submissions go to council before its determined they include defamation or hate speech.

Original motion versus proposed amendment.

Council is back to the procedure motions - after Ward 14 Coun. Johnston expressed concern about pre-screening written and audio/visual public submissions.

Calgarians optimistic about city’s future, question value for tax dollars ahead of budget - Calgary | Globalnews.ca Mayor Jeromy Farkas wants to cut the proposed property tax increase by "at-least half," as new data shows just 42 per cent of Calgarians feel they get good value for their taxes.

City council will now hear about the results from the 2025 fall survey of Calgarians. Here is some background from me on those results:

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This has been postponed while an amendment is drafted.

This is the motion that was in front of council when the issue was brought up.

Council is going through procedure for public submissions during budget talks. Coun. Johnston took issue with some of the rules around screening public submissions as "curtailing freedom of expression." Admin says public submissions are screened for defamation and hate speech.

Good morning from Calgary city hall!

The new city council will be getting their first look at the 2026 budget proposal today ahead of deliberations in two weeks.

Calgarians optimistic about city’s future, question value for tax dollars ahead of budget - Calgary | Globalnews.ca Mayor Jeromy Farkas wants to cut the proposed property tax increase by "at-least half," as new data shows just 42 per cent of Calgarians feel they get good value for their taxes.

Calgary mayor Jeromy Farkas has indicated he’d like council to make a “significant” reduction to the proposed property tax increase by “at-least half.”

It comes as a new city survey shows many are questioning the value they get from their taxes.

globalnews.ca/news/1151746...