'It came as a shock to me': Edmonton city council grappling with proposed increase to 2024 taxes
As city council mulls increasing Edmonton's 2024 property taxes to 8.7 per cent, one local charity worries it will push people into poverty.
On Thursday, the city announced an increase of 2.1 per cent on top of the 6.1 per cent increase already planned for this year is necessary to maintain current service levels.
Edmonton's Food Bank says it's already serving a client base nearly the size of Fort Saskatchewan.
"We've been struggling to stay on top of the demand and the need in our community," Tamisan Bencz-Knight of Edmonton's Food Bank said.
"Last year alone, Edmonton's Food Bank served over 75,000 different Edmontonians."
Bencz-Knight worries an increase in taxes could be detrimental to people on a fixed income.
"There is no light in the tunnel. The cost of food is up, the cost of housing is up, the cost of taxes."
City council members are also struggling to wrap their heads around the increase.
"I know that's going to come as a shock to people. It came as a shock to me. And I think, in this time of affordability concerns that we all have, it's even more concerning," Ward Sspomitapi Coun. Jo-Anne Wright told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.
Wright says the increase is due to inflation, as well as contract settlements with city workers and police.
She also points to areas of provincial jurisdictions where the city has been forced to spend, like housing and responding to overdoses.
"I'm frustrated. I think the province needs to step up to the plate and learn to work together with other levels of government, rather than just fighting both the feds and our municipalities."
"I think there's so much that they can do and if we all work together. Maybe we can help reduce the affordability issue for Edmontonians."
Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang is also looking for more accountability from the province.
"We also looked at things that we have been delivering on behalf of our provincial government," Tang said.
"Things like the shigella response, where we were supporting Alberta Health Services, things like the opioid overdose crisis, $9.1 million in 2023. These are costs that we, on behalf of Edmontonians, have requested from our provincial government."
"We can't keep paying for these downloaded responsibilities. And quite frankly, the volume of that has increased over the last few years."
Both Wright and Tang worry about having to reduce services if taxes aren't raised.
"We know at a time like this especially, people rely on city services to get to work, get to school, make sure businesses are operating, make sure that people have a good quality of life in their neighbourhood," Tang said.
"So we can either raise taxes, or we cut a lot of those things back."
Edmonton is not alone in its tax troubles, many other major cities in Canada are facing increases around 6 per cent or higher this year.
But going from the 6.6 percent council approved in December to the recommended 8.7 per cent now, means only Toronto would see a steeper spike.
Council will discuss the tax bump on April 23.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Ontario woman surprised after 20-year-old fines suddenly tank credit score
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when provincial fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
Anger can harm your blood vessel function, study shows
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
Avalanche eliminate Winnipeg Jets from playoffs with 6-3 road win
Mikko Rantanen's first two goals of the playoffs propelled the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday that clinched their opening-round playoff series in five games.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Protesters clash at UCLA after police clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators from Columbia University
Dueling groups of protesters clashed Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. Hours earlier, police carrying riot shields burst into a building at Columbia University that pro-Palestinian protesters took over and broke up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school while inspiring others.
A 98-year-old in Ukraine walked miles to safety from Russians, with slippers and a cane
A 98-year-old woman in Ukraine who escaped Russian-occupied territory by walking almost 10 kilometres (six miles) alone, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane has been reunited with her family days after they were separated while fleeing to safety.
Will an 'out of sight, out of mind' cellphone policy make a difference in Ontario schools?
Ontario’s cellphone ban in schools has been met with mixed reaction, with some teachers concerned about constant policing of kids and experts applauding the change as necessary for student learning.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.