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Property tax rates for Edmonton homeowners have increased 70 per cent in the last decade and some are saying that’s too much.

The tax hikes coincided with 10 years of infrastructure catch-up, as city council boosted spending to try to fix crumbling roads and build new recreation centres as Edmonton’s population exploded.

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“Does the city really think we can absorb this every year endlessly?” asked Allyson Lyne, one of three home and business owners who revealed their property tax records to illustrate the trend.

“Salaries don’t go up that much, pensions don’t go up that much,” said Lyne, 56, who worries she’ll have to move out of her Fulton Place neighbourhood to retire. She moved into her $391,000 bungalow in 2005.

While the overall residential tax rate in Edmonton increased by 70 per cent, the average impact on homeowners, city officials say, was closer to a 55 per cent increase over the decade because tax bills are calculated both by tax rate and the assessed value of a property. Average property values actually fell eight percent between 2008 and 2017.