Farkas proposes 'bill of rights' for Calgary taxpayers to 'level the playing field'

Property tax bills are due tomorrow in Calgary, and mayoral candidate Jeromy Farkas is turning the tables by proposing a taxpayer “bill of rights.”

Farkas committed to addressing overspending at City Hall — a cause he has furthered throughout his first term as councillor.

On Tuesday, he was joined in Bowness by resident Barbara Jeesiman, a semi-retiree who has called that community home for more than 30 years. “I was shocked when I opened up my tax bill,” said Jessiman, pointing to the tax bill for her semi-attached residence, which has increased by more than one thousand dollars over the past nine years.

The city recently issued residents their property tax assessment and intends to charge a three-and-a-half percent penalty on July 1 for taxes owed — costing the city about $5 million in revenue.

For those behind on their municipal taxes past October 1, another seven percent charge would follow, and subsequent one percent penalties levied each month taxes be late in 2022. Late fee charges are waived until April 2022.

According to municipal watchdog Save Calgary, the data provided by the City of Calgary indicates that when Mayor Naheed Nenshi was first elected in 2010, the median property tax bill for a typical Calgary homeowner increased by a staggering 85 percent. That works out to a tax bill that is more than $1,000 higher per year for a typical Calgary homeowner or an increase from $1,173.61 in 2010 to $2,174.67 in 2020.

In 2010, the City of Calgary spent $2.77 billion, according to the 2010 annual report. In 2019, that spending number ballooned to $3.53 billion — that's an increase of nearly 30 percent.

What drove that higher spending? They grew the size of the government and hired more employees. In 2010, the City employed about 15,000. By 2019, that number had climbed to more than 17,000 people — an increase of nearly 2,000 full-time positions.

Not only did they hire more people, but they also paid them more. Salaries, wages, and benefits cost Calgarians $1.42 billion in 2010, but that shot up to $1.98 billion in 2019, increasing just under 40 percent. When contract workers are added in, the City's total payroll in 2019 broke the $2.5 billion mark, with the City spending more than $500 million on consultants, contractors, and outside services.

But the spending didn't stop with current employees. The City spent heavily on retired employees as well. In 2010, the pension and benefits liability for the City of Calgary was $309.1 million. In 2019, that number had grown to $495.6 million. That's an increase of more than 60 percent

“Enough is enough,” said Farkas in a press release. “City Hall has a spending problem, and they have failed Calgarians by not putting needs before wants.”

“More than that, they have forgotten that they work for people like Barbara.”

Farkas expressed grave concern over the “human cost” of city council’s “fast and loose” decisions with public money. He demands that the buck be passed to the City, rather than struggling families, seniors, and entrepreneurs “who make all the sacrifices.”

“It’s time to level the playing field between Calgarians and City Hall. For far too long, City Hall has taken advantage of Calgarians through many years of massive increases. Appeal rules favour the establishment, always at the expense of those who pay the bills. It’s time for that to change,” said Farkas.

“I am worried that Calgarians like me will not be able to continue to afford to live in this city. Services have not improved to reflect the increases we are forced to pay. Delayed snow removal, streetlights burnt out for weeks on end, and costly traffic-calming initiatives to clutter the roads only add to our frustration in the community,” Jessiman continued.

“Citizen satisfaction with their local government is down,” said Save Calgary. In 2010, 94 percent of voters surveyed rated the quality of city services as "good." That number dropped to 83 percent in 2019.

However, both of those results are positively rosy compared to voter satisfaction with their local elected officials. In a ThinkHQ survey done in Summer 2019, only 39 percent of those surveyed approved of the job being done by Mayor Nenshi, reported the Calgary Herald. Council received a passive grade from only 32 percent of voters

Save Calgary said higher taxes, more spending, larger government, richer pensions, and less satisfaction are not a “proud record” for our city or our City Council. They believe that City Hall needs to stop the spending spree, cut taxes, reduce the size of Calgary's bureaucracy, get pensions under control, and focus on delivering core services to citizens.

Mayoral candidate Zane Novak said the common tagline in this election is "reduce taxes."

"It's an easy statement to make but not easy to achieve without a plan," he said. I will reduce the tax burden because I have a structured plan based on efficiencies, accountability and new revenue streams.”

With the support of Ward 4 councillor Sean Chu, Farkas committed to introducing a “taxpayer bill of rights” that would reform the assessment process favouring Calgarians.

Highlights of the plan include:

• Reducing or eliminating the appeal fees paid by taxpayers who challenge their assessments.
• Reversing the “burden of proof” by providing taxpayers upon request with a detailed breakdown of how their assessment was calculated.
• Avoiding repeat appeals by honouring assessment reductions for two years following an appeal win by the taxpayer.

More details of this plan will be shared at a future Council meeting.