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Calgary and Edmonton will gain significant new authority under long-awaited city charters, but new taxation powers for Alberta’s largest municipalities have been ruled out.

As the NDP government unveiled its plan for city charters in an Edmonton announcement Thursday, it promised there would be talks around a new fiscal framework that will include the development of a new infrastructure funding formula that will be tied to provincial revenues.

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However, the province made clear that new taxes or powers — long a potential bone of contention — aren’t part of the new charters or the future fiscal framework negotiations.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi has chafed at the problems municipalities face in their reliance on property taxes, but said both sides in the city charter talks decided early on that new tax powers would not be on the table because of a lack of time and public support.

Nevertheless, the cities and province will have to grapple at some point with possible new city tax powers to ensure they can deal with their operating costs, he said.