Research

Last month, Council debated received a recommendation from Administration to create three new Business Improvement Areas (BIAs).

These new BIAs would be in Crescent Heights Village, Bridgeland, and the Beltline, joining the existing 12 BIAs already operating in the City.

Business Improvement Areas claim to represent the interests of businesses in their local community, like a Chamber of Commerce, a guild, or other forms of business associations have done for centuries.

But Business Improvement Areas are different in one big way - they are compulsory organizations that all businesses in the area must join and must fund through a compulsory tax set by the BIA and collected by City Council.

It's been a wild week at Calgary City Council.

One councillor was removed from a council meeting by a vote of the other councillors, accusations were thrown around, and lots of misinformation was spread.

There's another argument brewing at City Hall, and this time it's about Calgary Councillors' pensions. 

As pension plans can be a complicated topic even when taxpayer money isn't involved, we thought we'd provide a brief backgrounder on what exactly this debate is about.