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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. ( h, F3 B" B. m
/ a1 t2 W: h: y6 XEdmontonians 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.
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5 {' O5 Y7 j3 {) B" f3 BMandel 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.
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"Looking at this we're talking an 8-10% tax increase," Mandel said in council chambers.
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7 k) a; ]' G7 s1 ]/ |6 P7 {City manager Al Maurer confirmed that Mandel's prediction was on the money, based on initial cost estimates
$ F; f+ u+ U2 |3 Z B) s"Given the amount of it, it's going to be scary," the mayor said.
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A hike in that range could cost the average homeowner up to $200 a year.
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! O( D* Y" m2 K4 D6 x t"There's no question costs are going up," said Coun. Michael Phair, who conceded the tax hike "may very well" be in the range predicted by Mandel.
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Coun. Ron Hayter said it's still very early in the process, and he cautioned against getting overly anxious at this point.
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0 j |/ V, U5 XThe draft budget does not come out until November. ; u$ r+ K4 e2 F; n0 n, p% F
/ D9 ] ?& R" d4 R6 f# p$ g"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." % q# s$ ^! o9 q- x, E L
4 R! D- a: y- P' @" U$ q& vMaurer said income from investments and various financial strategies could offset a large hike.
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2 w: g. }4 f: ?7 ^However, he said there aren't really any city programs that could be cut in order to save a few bucks.
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& ]+ P$ Y4 e4 [1 E9 T; m9 Y$ b5 S"We've certainly got more demands," Maurer said, noting council still has to find money to fund an improved snow-clearing program. 4 J ^+ A' l4 S; |) K
$ ]6 ?! t, _8 A% o/ x. Y6 I2 p4 HScott Hennig, with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there's no excuse for a double-digit tax increase.
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& h7 U% N$ i8 y6 z: \) t6 jHe said hikes should be limited to inflation, which is pegged at 5% both this year and next, according to the city. 5 e9 B9 d( ^* k# h
0 T+ G& P4 Y2 K' x"They're going to hear from a lot of angry taxpayers if they're looking at 10%," Hennig said. ' T/ _! Y, ]- s
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"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." ) k8 }4 A" Q% @) O; X
% B7 I; E& ~9 r! rThe average property tax bill in Edmonton will go up 4.95% this year, the city has said.
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3 e2 J V; o: x$ Q1 i: \7 T% dThe 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.
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Tax 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
