City councillors were working while most taxpayers were in bed, as they voted to increase property taxes by 8.9 per cent just before midnight Tuesday.
Now the mayor and councillors are pointing fingers at each other and the province, as for whom to blame.
It was announced that the spring operating budget would increase more than beleaguered taxpayers expected again. Councillors voted unanimously for the hefty increase.
But city councillor Tim Cartmell says he and a few others on council are unhappy they were forced to vote. He claims with time running out, city leaders had to vote in favour to avoid late penalties.
“If the budget had been defeated last night, we’d go back to 6.6 per cent. That means it’s a deficit budget. That’s against the law,” said Cartmell.
The mayor and councillor Michael Janz pointed fingers at the provincial government for reducing grants that were put in place to offset the provincial government not needing to pay property taxes on provincial buildings.
“We have seen a reduction in the support that the city used to receive from the province and the province not paying their fair share of property taxes,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
Janz added: “These bills all add up. We’re talking about $143 million plus. If the province had paid their bills and we put that towards taxes, we’d be looking at a one per cent change here.”
Coun. Cartmell disagrees. He says the provincial government notified city council that if the UCP was re-elected, it would change how much money Edmonton would receive.
“The province is not compelled to pay tax to us or to anyone. Neither does the federal government. They have benevolently given grants in lieu of taxes and they’ve discontinued that. They have their own fiscal pressures,” said Cartmell.
The minister of municipal affairs spoke to media on Wednesday, saying the City of Edmonton only has itself to blame for the money it is spending.
“They have to fulfill their responsibilities as every municipality does. Municipalities always complain about wanting more money. That’s normal. But that doesn’t relieve them of their job of making the best decisions they can with the funding available. That’s on them as far as that goes,” explained Minister Ric McIver.
The city will bring forward a bylaw next week to set the taxes based on the increase. Property owners should expect their property taxes in the mail on May 23.