Calgary Minute: Issue 385

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

📅 This Week In Calgary: 📅

• City Council voted unanimously on September 29th to release confidential budget figures showing property tax revenue increases of 15% in 2027, followed by 12.5%, 9%, and 6% over the next three years, a compounded increase of roughly 42.5% by 2030. Ward 6 Councillor John Pantazopoulos moved the release after Ward 14 Councillor Landon Johnston acknowledged leaking the preliminary figures earlier in September. For a typical home assessed at the median of $706,000, the 2027 increase would add $36 a month in property tax, or $52 a month once projected water, waste, and recycling rate increases are included. Chief Financial Officer Les Tochor presented three funding scenarios, claiming that annual increases of 4.2% to 5% would hold current service levels with trade-offs, that anything lower would visibly degrade infrastructure and services, and that higher increases would help the City catch up on a $50-billion infrastructure deficit. Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth stressed that the 15% figure is not a proposed budget, an administrative recommendation, or a Council decision. The Calgary Police Service is separately seeking a 19% increase to its operating budget and a 73% increase to its capital budget, partly to hire more than 300 additional officers by 2030. Mayor Jeromy Farkas described the figures as every imaginable ask and pledged to keep the combined City and Provincial property tax increase under $400 for the year, noting that last year's budget process began at 6% and ended at 1.2%. Administration will release the draft budget on November 10th, and Council's formal deliberations begin November 23rd.
  
  
• Five Councillors are asking the City to consider guaranteeing up to $36.5 million in loans for the National Music Centre, in a notice of motion going before the Executive Committee today at 9:30 am. The motion, sponsored by Councillors Dan McLean, D.J. Kelly, John Pantazopoulos, Andrew Yule, and Harrison Clark, would have Administration assess the feasibility, risks, and benefits of a guarantee tied to the Centre's refinancing efforts and report back by December 7th. The City has already put $35 million into the Centre's Studio Bell building, alongside $30 million each from the provincial and federal governments, toward a total project cost of $191 million. The Centre has reduced the building's construction debt from about $92 million to $41 million over its first decade. Under a loan guarantee, the City would not lend money directly but would be legally committed to repay the lender if the Centre defaulted. The City's legal department advises that the Centre appears to qualify as a non-profit eligible for a municipal guarantee, provided Council passes a bylaw authorizing it. If the Committee forwards the motion, Council would consider it on October 27th.
  
  
• Ward 13 Councillor Dan McLean is asking Council to pause new on-street bike lane projects that would remove vehicle lanes or on-street parking until the Province introduces its promised legislation on municipal cycling infrastructure. His notice of motion is on the agenda for the Executive Committee, which meets today at 9:30 am. The Government of Alberta has said it intends to introduce legislation increasing provincial oversight of municipal bike lane projects that remove travel lanes or parking, and has set up a public reporting process for concerns about bike lanes. Under McLean's motion, the pause would cover design, procurement, and construction, while work on pathway missing links, multi-use pathways, school connections, sidewalks, and off-street cycling facilities would continue. Administration would report to the Infrastructure and Planning Committee by the first quarter of 2027 with an inventory of planned or funded cycling projects that affect traffic lanes or parking, their estimated capital costs, and options to redirect that funding to pathways and sidewalk gaps. McLean cites concerns from some residents and businesses about lost lanes and parking, access, and congestion. If forwarded, the motion would go to Council on October 27th.
  
  
• Ward 2 Councillor Jennifer Wyness wants the City to disclose how much it paid the members of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main Independent Review Panel. Her notice of motion, on the agenda for the Executive Committee meeting today at 9:30 am, notes that the independent review and related work have cost more than $2.3 million to date. It would direct Administration to make public the total amounts invoiced and paid to the panel's Chair and members, as well as all remaining expenditures making up the total. Wyness points out that the City already publishes procurement notices for contracts worth $75,000 or more and discloses compensation above $130,000. She argues that the panel members' pay should be disclosed if it exceeded those thresholds.
  
  
• Ward 1 Councillor Kim Tyers is proposing a 10-business-day standard for Administration to answer questions from Councillors and their staff. Her notice of motion goes before the Executive Committee today at 9:30 am. Where a complete answer cannot be given in that time, the business unit would have to tell the Councillor in writing when to expect a response. The motion would also have the Chief Administrative Officer discontinue and archive the Council Inquiry Management Dashboard, which gives City staff general access to Councillors' information requests and the responses, once a new process limits that access to employees who need it for their work. Under the Municipal Government Act, information given to one Councillor in response to a request generally must be shared with the rest of Council within a set timeframe, and the motion directs Administration to make sure that happens. Administration would report back in the first quarter of 2027 with a proposed definition of "substantial information requests" under the Act and any bylaw it recommends. If forwarded, Council would consider the motion on October 27th.

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨

Common Sense Calgary has now hosted free Pints & Politics events with seven Calgary City Councillors, giving residents the opportunity to meet their elected officials, ask questions, and hear directly about what is happening at City Hall.

With more events planned, including a major event with Mayor Jeromy Farkas later this month and events with the remaining Councillors next year, we're asking for some help to help keep these conversations free and accessible to Calgarians.

If you believe residents should be able to meet with their elected officials without having to pay for the opportunity, consider supporting Common Sense Calgary and helping cover the costs of future Pints & Politics events:

🪙 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!