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Businessman Howard Silver wants an independent inquiry into Calgary’s tax assessment department. Council should do it.

These city tax people, and the council-appointed review panel, hit Silver’s downtown Metropolitan Conference Centre with a 400-per-cent increase in tax assessment.

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That’s not so unusual these days. But this case stands out because Silver took the city to court — and won.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice M. David Gates found that the city’s actions were unjustified. His ruling gives a distinct impression of overbearing power.

One sample quote: “the assessment falls outside of any possible outcome justifiable on the evidence …”

Silver sent a letter to all councillors, demanding that the people who put him through this ordeal have their own moment on the griddle.

“Unpleasant doesn’t begin to describe my recent experience with the assessment department and the CARB (Calgary Assessment Review Board),” he wrote.