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Mayor warns of 'scary' tax hike
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Think your property taxes are high now? You ain't seen nothing yet.
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, u9 C% A1 l* D- BEdmontonians could face a "scary" tax hike of up to 10% next year, Mayor Stephen Mandel said. That would be the highest property tax increase since the 1980s. 3 r% X4 Q2 Q4 r8 ]8 _7 p
- ]) e7 `* _0 C; i, c7 FMandel tossed out the figure yesterday following a presentation by administration that outlined the intense economic pressures the city is facing as a result of Alberta's economic boom. 6 I- H5 ~! C, F7 C7 l6 c3 V% a
2 I- y% ?3 A- t; i; l3 @. I"Looking at this we're talking an 8-10% tax increase," Mandel said in council chambers. # x1 \! L$ I0 \0 F
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City manager Al Maurer confirmed that Mandel's prediction was on the money, based on initial cost estimates
' t* z! J) ^/ Z+ P" J9 h4 s- _"Given the amount of it, it's going to be scary," the mayor said. $ d* E" q! W/ O0 A$ R2 Y
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A hike in that range could cost the average homeowner up to $200 a year.
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"There's no question costs are going up," said Coun. Michael Phair, who conceded the tax hike "may very well" be in the range predicted by Mandel. . L1 U3 y5 ]+ N
8 @# m2 l! a" `4 u. B2 V. FCoun. Ron Hayter said it's still very early in the process, and he cautioned against getting overly anxious at this point. 7 o+ j( _; {& d0 K4 b
7 W9 y* \5 s. m$ `The draft budget does not come out until November. 2 K; Q& H7 N+ I8 |' G$ f) z8 i
% q9 A$ H3 S ?% ~3 p5 w; y"I'm not looking for a major increase next year, at least not too much more than we've already approved for this year," Hayter said.
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"It won't be as bad as some people are making it out." 7 [! a' U1 e0 N6 ?: {$ P. C' d
5 h* R- F6 H0 }/ S2 P! q/ y6 q" wMaurer said income from investments and various financial strategies could offset a large hike.
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1 G8 u5 o- ]' y% \1 _However, he said there aren't really any city programs that could be cut in order to save a few bucks. ; F8 v+ f2 Z0 y, Q' ^7 A8 X$ G
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"We've certainly got more demands," Maurer said, noting council still has to find money to fund an improved snow-clearing program.
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1 X2 S: ?7 J4 J. R: C' `. x4 nScott Hennig, with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there's no excuse for a double-digit tax increase. / [$ j9 y( a/ M7 z2 _; s
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He said hikes should be limited to inflation, which is pegged at 5% both this year and next, according to the city. ' O- D- r6 i- [
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"They're going to hear from a lot of angry taxpayers if they're looking at 10%," Hennig said. ( K y4 r! ^2 w& J( H j; ? }. o
% n6 ]1 I) x% P: t* h, g"I don't know what some of these members of council are going to be able to say to some pensioner who got a 2% hike in their pension." , P% C( d6 D% U1 I
: X, w$ B& K, h. y* ]The average property tax bill in Edmonton will go up 4.95% this year, the city has said.
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6 Y$ e2 H, m% F7 o0 h5 }3 OThe tax on homes will go up higher than average - about 7%. The figures include both municipal tax and the provincial education tax, which the city collects. 9 J6 }3 y6 u, h& I
5 D/ V% G/ b, R# c6 {0 pTax bills will be mailed May 25 and payments are due June 30. |
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发表于 2007-5-9 22:25
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发表于 2007-5-10 11:37
