Calgary Minute: Issue 376

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

📅 This Week In Calgary: 📅

• Calgary City Council has voted 9-6 to increase Councillors' ward office budgets by 20%, approving a recommendation from the city clerk's office at its July 28th meeting. The increase raises each ward budget from approximately $374,000 this year to roughly $455,000 next year, with further incremental increases bringing budgets to just under $500,000 by 2030. Ward budgets pay for Councillors' office staff, town halls, and communications, and cannot be used to supplement Councillors' own pay. Councillor now represents an average of 110,000 constituents, up from 33,500 when the current 14-ward system was created in 1976, and Ward 2 Councillor Jennifer Wyness argued that better-resourced offices are much cheaper than adding more Council members. Ward 8 Councillor Nathaniel Schmidt said inner-city wards face a heavier load, pointing out that more than seven rezoning items at a typical public hearing relate to his ward alone. Councillors Rob Ward, Landon Johnston, Mike Jamieson, Kim Tyers and Dan McLean, along with Mayor Jeromy Farkas, voted against, with several arguing it would be hypocritical to boost Council's own office spending while asking Administration to find savings. The increase still requires final approval when Council deliberates the 2027-2030 budget in November.
  
  
• Speaking of the budget, Calgarians could be facing a significant property tax increase next year, after Council spent several hours behind closed doors on July 28th discussing the 2027-2030 budget. Councillors emerged to vote 8-7 in favour of a series of recommendations, including a directive that Administration use increased 2027 property tax revenue as a planning guide for refining and prioritizing spending requests. Council has been holding monthly confidential strategic meetings on the budget since approving a zero-based review that requires every department to build its financial plan from scratch. The requests are already adding up, as the Calgary Police Service is looking to hire an additional 660 officers over the next four-year cycle, a March report recommended nearly $50 billion in infrastructure spending over the next decade, and the parks department is asking for a $14-million increase to its operating budget. Mayor Jeromy Farkas says there will be "some level of increase" to Calgarians' tax bills, arguing previous councils lowballed spending on essential infrastructure and maintenance. Last December, Council whittled Administration's proposed 3.6% tax increase down to 1.64%, mostly by drawing on reserves and reallocating $50 million in projected investment income rather than by cutting spending. The draft budget will be presented this fall, with deliberations set for late November.
  
  
• Council has also voted 13-2 in favour of exploring a municipal lobbyist registry aimed at improving transparency around who meets with public officials. The notice of motion, sponsored by Mayor Jeromy Farkas and Councillors Nathaniel Schmidt, Harrison Clark, and Myke Atkinson, directs Administration to study what other cities are doing and whether Calgary should create its own registry or work within Alberta's existing lobbying disclosure rules. Until the Province eliminated municipal codes of conduct in 2025, Councillors were required to disclose who they met with, but those disclosures are now voluntary. Council also passed an amendment from Councillor Mike Jamieson to ensure any registry would cover lobbying of senior bureaucrats as well as elected officials. Councillors Andrew Yule and Andre Chabot voted against the proposal, with Chabot saying he is not keen on forcing people to sign a registry just to meet with him. A report from Administration on next steps is expected by the end of the year.
  
  
• Secondary suites that meet the City's rules will now be approved automatically, after Council narrowly voted to list them as a permitted use in low-density residential districts citywide. The change means a homeowner who meets the bylaw's rules can proceed straight to a building permit without a development permit, which Administration says will save up to six weeks of processing time and over $600 in permit fees. The move stems from Council's repeal of citywide blanket rezoning, which takes effect tomorrow and would otherwise have left suite applications governed by 16 different zoning districts. Administration noted that 98.9% of secondary suite applications were approved last year and estimates 2,300 secondary suites will be built per year as a result of the change. Council rejected Administration's recommendation to give backyard suites the same treatment, instead approving an amendment from Ward 11 Councillor Rob Ward to keep them as a discretionary use requiring a development permit. Ward argued that each backyard suite is a new building on a unique parcel that professional planners should review, while Ward 8 Councillor Nathaniel Schmidt countered that all but two of the 192 backyard suite applications submitted last year were approved anyway.
  
  
• The City is ending its Home Services for Seniors program, which provided free lawn care, snow shovelling and housekeeping to 1,320 low-income seniors aged 65 and older, effective September 30th. Although the City administered the program, it was provincially funded, and the City says it had become more complex to manage and required City tax dollars to help run, with Calgary the only municipality in Alberta involved in delivering it. Clients are being redirected to the Province's Special Needs Assistance for Seniors program, where eligibility is based on tiered income levels, with full services limited to single seniors earning $28,290 or less and couples earning $45,600 or less. Some current users say they will not qualify, including 86-year-old Lorraine Barton, who has used the City program for at least 15 years and was told her income is slightly too high for the provincial equivalent. The Province says the decision to end the program was the City's, with a ministry spokesperson stating that the Government of Alberta did not cut it. Mayor Jeromy Farkas claims the City will continue to advocate for seniors and suggested non-profit organizations may be able to fill the gap.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

Calgary is now accepting applications for its annual Public Member recruitment campaign for Boards, Commissions, and Committees.

These volunteer positions give residents an opportunity to help shape City policies, programs, and services by serving on one of the City's advisory bodies.

Applications are open until September 1st at 4:00 pm, so if you've ever wanted to have a direct voice in how Calgary is governed, consider applying:

🪙 This Week’s Sponsor: 🪙

This week's sponsor is you! We don't have big corporate backers, so if you like what you're reading, please consider making a donation or signing up as a monthly member.

Having said that, if you are a local business and are interested in being a sponsor, send us an email and we'll talk!