Calgary Minute: Transit Funding, Council Holiday, and Tax Incentive Cancelled

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

This Week In Calgary:

• There are no meetings scheduled at City Hall this week as Council is on holiday. Meetings begin again on Monday, April 3rd.
  
  
• The City is seeking feedback on a 10-year habitat management plan for the Weaselhead Flats and Glenmore area parks located along the Elbow River in SW Calgary. Residents can provide their input on how Calgary Parks and Open Spaces can best manage the habitat to ensure positive and measurable biodiversity outcomes. Feedback can be given online until March 31st.
  
  
• Calgarians are showing their community spirit by offering to help the Hangar Flight Museum recover from the theft of several brass plaques honouring Second World War sacrifices. Individual Calgarians are making donations and the Veterans Association Food Bank is offering to host a fundraiser. The museum says the outpouring of support has been incredible.

Last Week In Calgary:

• The proposed residential heritage tax incentive program, which would have provided a temporary 80% reduction to municipal property taxes for privately owned homes designated as Municipal Historic Resources, has been put on hold due to a lack of funding. The program could potentially be revived in the future, but for now, Administration has asked Council’s Executive Committee to reallocate the previously budgeted, one-time $2 million funding. At least $5 million would have been needed for the four-year tax credit pilot project.
  
  
• The Executive Committee approved $32 million in funding for Calgary Transit to cover funding shortfalls. Mayor Jyoti Gondek couldn’t speak directly to how the money would be spent, but the City says that hiring more staff is needed to get ridership back up to pre-pandemic levels and increase revenues. We have some ideas about how to get Calgarians back on transit - make it safer!
  
  
• A Council Committee has sent a proposal on new election sign rules back to Administration for revisions. Councillors had previously expressed concerns about litter and visual pollution from the plastic signs, which can't be recycled and often end up in landfills. The revised proposal would have increased the distance required between identical signs and raised fees for offenders, but Councillors were “underwhelmed” by the changes. Administration will make revisions and present a new proposal to Council at the end of Q3.

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