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Calgary homeowners can expect an even higher property tax bill this year than expected, and city officials are blaming the provincial government.

In a 9-5 vote, city council approved the 2024 tax rate bylaw on Tuesday. Accounting for both the municipal and provincial portions of Calgary’s property tax, the result is an 8.6 per cent tax increase for a residential property with a median assessed value of $610,000.

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Members of administration said the reason for the higher hike is the provincial government’s portion of the education tax requisition increasing by nearly 12 per cent.

Chris Jacyk, finance manager of the city’s corporate budget office, told council the city’s share of the 2024 provincial property tax requisition this year amounts to just under $882 million — nearly $96 million more than the city paid in 2023.

After bylaw adjustments, the revenue to be collected through the bylaw is just under $876 million.

While council approves the municipal budget every November, the municipality has to wait for the Alberta budget to be released in February before determining how much the city must pay the province for its portion of the education tax requisition.

Council approved adjustments to the 2024 budget last November that would have resulted in a residential property tax hike of 7.8 per cent. At the time, city officials stated the increase would amount to approximately $16 more a month for the average homeowner.

Now that the provincial budget has been released (and property values have been assessed), the tax increase Calgarians can expect on this year’s bill is more clear.

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Jacyk said the municipal portion of the local tax rate actually dropped from 7.8 per cent to 7.2 per cent, due to higher-than-anticipated growth in assessed values.

But he noted the provincial portion went up by 11.5 per cent, resulting in an overall increase of 8.6 per cent for residential property owners.

That means owners of an average Calgary home can expect a $26 monthly tax bump, while condo owners can anticipate paying an average of $20 more in tax each month, according to the city’s report.

Gondek criticizes Alberta government

There was little debate before council approved the tax rate bylaw. Councillors Andre Chabot, Dan McLean, Sean Chu, Terry Wong and Sonya Sharp voted in opposition. Peter Demong was the only councillor not in attendance.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek criticized the Alberta government for increasing its proportion of the tax, arguing the city has no control over how much the province takes.

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She said the province has chosen to take the full amount of the property tax it’s entitled to, based on the mill rate it has frozen in place since last year.

That means municipalities will be billed at a rate of $2.56 per $1,000 of their total residential/farmland equalized assessment value.

“If they wanted to bring down that amount, they could have changed the rate, but they didn’t, so they’re benefiting from higher property values and taking their full share,” Gondek said. “That means an increase on your provincial share of property tax that we didn’t necessarily anticipate.”

Sharp criticizes council, province denies blame

But Sharp said council could have done more in November to lessen the tax burden on residents, adding she, Chabot and Wong all introduced amendments to trim the budget that the majority of councillors voted against.

“I think the biggest disappointment for me isn’t even the numbers themselves — it’s council’s will to entertain any attempts at bringing that number down,” she said.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs said Calgary’s property tax increase “has nothing to do” with the provincial government, and said the education property tax is an important revenue source to help fund building more schools, hire new teachers and educate a growing population of students.

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The government’s website states that while tax rates will be frozen this year, strong growth in property values and increased development mean education property tax revenue is expected to grow by $229 million in 2024-25.

“This revenue increase will help mitigate the cost pressures of rising enrolment in our schools and bring the proportion of education operating costs funded by the education property tax closer to historical levels, almost 30 per cent,” the province stated.

Non-residential property taxes going up as well

Commercial property taxes are also going up, according to the city’s report. The municipal portion of the non-residential property tax rate increased by three per cent, while the provincial portion went up by 3.8 per cent, amounting to a 3.1 per cent overall increase for 2024.

This amounts to a tax increase of $276 each month for the owner of a commercial property with an assessed value of $5 million.

Calgary’s residential properties will shoulder 53.2 per cent of the city’s tax burden this year, while non-residential properties will pay 46.8 per cent of the bill.

As a result of this split, the city’s municipal tax ratio for 2024 will be 4.37 to one, meaning commercial property owners will pay 4.37 times the amount of tax that homeowners pay for each dollar of their property’s assessed value. The province’s legislated maximum ratio is five to one.

The city will be mailing out tax bills the week of May 20.

— With files from Rick Bell

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