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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. ! e6 k* C* Z/ i) {1 B' M( Y
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Edmontonians 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. . r; }# l, `# B$ F+ f# P0 E b
( W4 O( Z; M0 w0 Y. D& QMandel 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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# U9 J4 _6 X5 W. G! i0 L6 n"Looking at this we're talking an 8-10% tax increase," Mandel said in council chambers.
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City manager Al Maurer confirmed that Mandel's prediction was on the money, based on initial cost estimates
$ b. ?8 T" \6 I( \& `: Z8 L"Given the amount of it, it's going to be scary," the mayor said.
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, K) ]/ u! Z$ @4 W9 OA hike in that range could cost the average homeowner up to $200 a year. ! o! ?+ g3 y0 t
F/ h2 J/ Y1 |6 }( a8 A"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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, l& L7 d- L/ w9 n& }Coun. Ron Hayter said it's still very early in the process, and he cautioned against getting overly anxious at this point. : Y2 z2 n( r! D2 w
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The draft budget does not come out until November. ! ~* q4 d3 R, r* h1 Q) J
# D( n; l) z1 Q7 z4 ]"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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( i" u3 Y8 v' m; K7 ~; { L"It won't be as bad as some people are making it out."
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Maurer said income from investments and various financial strategies could offset a large hike. # U( G( l3 ^ W V) N" O
$ g. X2 t5 U# {( M# lHowever, he said there aren't really any city programs that could be cut in order to save a few bucks. 8 K$ ~4 S. x0 {* z% y
+ M* f3 @" I2 s0 a$ M! F8 B"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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) N1 d. c5 j, n5 n; i& [, XScott Hennig, with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there's no excuse for a double-digit tax increase.
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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.
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! \, d; {; O0 Z, x' r"They're going to hear from a lot of angry taxpayers if they're looking at 10%," Hennig said. " V9 ~8 h* J2 [1 C
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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." & d& }# l( h" X4 V' ~
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The average property tax bill in Edmonton will go up 4.95% this year, the city has said. $ D- d4 [! ^+ W, `
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The 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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! A/ a r* I& q/ u/ g: ]* X3 |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
