CALGARY—The prospect of the provincial government helping Calgary with the city’s tax-shift problem looks dim as Premier Jason Kenney said Friday that city council will have to enter “a period of fiscal responsibility.”

On Thursday, Mayor Naheed Nenshi and 13 of Calgary’s 14 city councillors issued a joint statement with a four-point proposal to tackle the big tax increases many non-residential property owners are seeing this year. The spikes of up to 30 per cent are caused by a gap in property tax revenues spurred by persistently empty downtown office towers, which is forcing businesses outside the core to make up the difference.

In addition to asking city officials to come up with $60 million in savings, Calgary council members plan to ask the province to match those funds by forgoing $60 million of tax revenue from Calgary. The total amount would be applied to business owners’ tax bills.

But when asked about that idea, Kenney said the city has to deal with their own fiscal challenges while the province handles theirs.

“I wish them well in trying to come up with a solution here. Seems to me they’re going to have to go through a period of fiscal responsibility.”

The premier touted his government’s moves to cut corporate taxes and get rid of the carbon tax as action they’ve already taken to support businesses in Calgary.

Read more:

Calgary city councillors pitch last-minute property tax fix as business owners face steep increases

Here’s everything you need to know about Calgary’s downtown tax shift (but didn’t know to ask)

‘This is our hot potato’: No easy solution for Calgary’s property tax shift

“Together with our changes to labour legislation and our cutting red tape, we’re doing way more than our part to help save and grow Calgary and Alberta businesses, but it’s not the provincial government’s responsibility to subsidize municipal property taxes,” Kenney said.

The discussion about Calgary’s property tax problems is turning into a brewing fight between Calgary’s municipal politicians and the new provincial government.

Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu said in a statement Thursday that the city “needs to look after its own house.”

“They have hiked operational spending far beyond inflation and population over the last decade. Council needs to think about where this money has gone and why it has become so reliant on passing its spending hikes onto businesses,” Madu said.

Mayor Nenshi issued a statement of his own on Friday saying that’s not true. The mayor is currently in Quebec City with nine city councillors for the annual Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference.

“The challenge we have is one of distribution, not of overall tax or spending levels,” Nenshi said. Total city spending over the last four years has increased by 2 per cent less than inflation and population growth, he added.

“While the city has allocated over $150 million buffering business from this tax distribution problem the past two years, the previous government did nothing on this issue but pocket the money. Indeed, the city has not only been looking after its own house, it’s also been looking after the province’s,” Nenshi said.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“We know the new provincial government is committed to lowering taxes for job creators. We hope this will extend to the effects of property tax as well.”

The sole city councillor left out of the Calgary tax-shift proposal, Jeromy Farkas, also issued his own suggestions for dealing with the property tax shift on Thursday.

Farkas wants to call an emergency meeting of council to discuss his plan, while the rest of the council members plan to discuss their proposal at a June 17 meeting.

Read more about: