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Mayor warns of 'scary' tax hike
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Think your property taxes are high now? You ain't seen nothing yet.
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. ?2 h" l3 g; G7 H. d b; vEdmontonians could face a "scary" tax hike of up to 10% next year, Mayor Stephen Mandel said. That would be the highest property tax increase since the 1980s. 6 ]5 m/ z4 b% ?5 x* U5 y
2 U' P3 _0 @% D) X4 KMandel tossed out the figure yesterday following a presentation by administration that outlined the intense economic pressures the city is facing as a result of Alberta's economic boom.
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"Looking at this we're talking an 8-10% tax increase," Mandel said in council chambers. 0 M/ c+ j$ r8 o( z0 Y& D: K0 h
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City manager Al Maurer confirmed that Mandel's prediction was on the money, based on initial cost estimates
0 ]6 r. @* N4 g/ s"Given the amount of it, it's going to be scary," the mayor said. ' N/ V% t9 N; T5 w4 r/ x
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A hike in that range could cost the average homeowner up to $200 a year.
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"There's no question costs are going up," said Coun. Michael Phair, who conceded the tax hike "may very well" be in the range predicted by Mandel. 0 o- G# u# o, c
' B% k$ i5 M7 M2 V! _! WCoun. Ron Hayter said it's still very early in the process, and he cautioned against getting overly anxious at this point. / L6 \+ w& T1 A
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The draft budget does not come out until November. ( o9 r6 d* O i9 k
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"I'm not looking for a major increase next year, at least not too much more than we've already approved for this year," Hayter said.
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"It won't be as bad as some people are making it out." ( I0 \- d& L5 q0 o- q/ p# `0 _
/ h) H( P& _5 h4 dMaurer said income from investments and various financial strategies could offset a large hike. * \& I, J$ L4 e, M
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However, he said there aren't really any city programs that could be cut in order to save a few bucks.
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% y1 l* ?/ J9 {"We've certainly got more demands," Maurer said, noting council still has to find money to fund an improved snow-clearing program.
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% T2 `1 j5 s6 B7 _Scott Hennig, with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there's no excuse for a double-digit tax increase.
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He said hikes should be limited to inflation, which is pegged at 5% both this year and next, according to the city.
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/ Q3 P2 y6 ~* o9 I3 c"They're going to hear from a lot of angry taxpayers if they're looking at 10%," Hennig said.
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"I don't know what some of these members of council are going to be able to say to some pensioner who got a 2% hike in their pension."
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The average property tax bill in Edmonton will go up 4.95% this year, the city has said. 6 y1 y! e) P% v) ]/ I6 ?# b. C4 f L
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The tax on homes will go up higher than average - about 7%. The figures include both municipal tax and the provincial education tax, which the city collects. / i. h( W" H3 u
& X" t5 P! ]1 c- ?9 W; qTax bills will be mailed May 25 and payments are due June 30. |
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发表于 2007-5-9 22:25
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发表于 2007-5-10 11:37
