Taxes and rising costs top agenda at Alberta municipalities convention in Calgary

A three-day conference in Calgary will allow thousands of municipal leaders to discuss issues.

More than a thousand local leaders from across Alberta are gathering in Calgary this week to discuss the future of the province’s cities, towns and villages.

The annual Alberta Municipalities Convention and Trade Show kicked off Wednesday at the Telus Convention Centre, drawing more than 1,200 mayors, councillors and local officials.

The three-day event gives municipal leaders a chance to meet with provincial officials and debate issues shaping their communities.

“It’s the largest gathering of municipal leaders in the province,” said CEO for Alberta Municipalities, Dana Mackie.

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This year’s top priorities include funding, housing and keeping Alberta’s municipalities sustainable as costs continue to rise.

Premier Danielle Smith is scheduled to address delegates Thursday, while Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi is set to speak Friday.

Alberta Municipalities says councils are being pushed to keep property taxes low while facing inflation, reduced provincial funding and added costs from other levels of government.

The organization is calling for a review of how local governments are funded — including a potential reset of the property tax system.

The event comes three weeks after municipal elections were held in the province.

According to Mackie, 50 per cent of members attending are newly elected into their roles.

In total, the organization has 264 members. New members are taken through a number of education sessions with the ability to engage in resolutions that have been brought forward.

“If a resolution comes to the floor and it’s voted on and it’s approved, it becomes a priority, issue for our organization to conduct advocacy on that resolution,” said Mackie.

Resolutions

The Town of Rocky Mountain House brought forward a resolution for the province to assume direct responsibility for the collection of provincial education property taxes, relieving municipalities of this obligation and “ensuring a more transparent approach to education funding.”

“It shows up on the bottom line on our tax. Last year, it went up 14.2 per cent. That’s a big increase,” said Mayor of Rocky Mountain House Shane Boniface.

“Our residents who are from municipalities are going to their leaders and going, how come our taxes have increased so much?”

In August, the City of Calgary sent a $10 million invoice to the Alberta government over property tax collection expenses.

“Historically, there has been so much confusion about the collection of property taxes in Alberta. How much goes to the city, how much goes to the province if your bill is bigger, one year compared to the previous, where is that money going?” said Calgary’s Mayor Jeromy Farkas.

Farkas says the resolution, if passed by Alberta Municipalities and accepted by the UCP government, would provide more transparency, making sure property taxes collected by the city and province are separated.

“I would strongly support this kind of measures,” said Farkas.

In a statement Alberta’s ministry of municipal affairs said it is the responsibility of municipalities to collect education property taxes so that money can be used to support schools in those communities.

“Now more than ever, these property taxes are essential as Alberta’s student population has skyrocketed by over 80,000 students in the past three years, due to historic inter-provincial migration and out-of-control federal immigration policies,” said Minister Dan Williams.

Williams added one of the Alberta Next panel’s considerations had to do with a new provincial tax collection agency and what its role would be in the collection of property taxes by the province.

Municipal accommodation tax

The City of Airdrie has brought forward a motion seeking the amendments to the Municipal Government Act, allowing municipalities to implement municipal accommodation taxes.

The resolution points to the province pushing for tourism to reach $25 billion by 2035, which requires “enhanced municipal capacity for tourism infrastructure development and destination marketing.”

Currently, Alberta does not specifically authorize municipalities to implement accommodation taxes.

According to the reading, “medium-sized municipalities like Airdrie with Alberta Municipalities growing accommodation sectors could see $800,000 to $1 million yearly based on a conservative two per cent tax rate.”