Calgary Business Community Unveils City’s Proposed Four-Year Budget – Calgary

Many Calgary businesses want to know how the city’s proposed four-year budget will affect their bottom line as the city council prepares for deliberations later this month.

Several types of businesses in the city are likely to see property tax increases next year, but how much individual business owners pay depends on the assessed property value.

According to John Papavacilopoulos, who owns and operates Oak and Vine Inglewood, the challenges of rising costs and labor costs over the past two years have been daunting.

“Additional taxes and levies on top of it make it difficult for us as a small business to provide that to our customers,” Papabasiropoulos told Global News.

“Part of our job is to try to stay competitive.”

A strip mall worth $4.79 million could see a 9.7% increase in the municipal portion of the tax bill, while a neighborhood shopping center worth $17.9 million could see an annual increase of 14.32%, according to preliminary budget documents. % increase may be seen. Another $46,000.

Meanwhile, 17 Avenue SW retail, valued at $2.1 million in 2022, could see nearly $2,000, or a 5.2% increase, next year.

Preliminary budget figures also show that a non-residential building worth $5 million will see a local tax increase of $4,092, or 4.58%, next year.

These numbers also show a slowdown in downtown AA-class office space asset value growth. It is projected to rise nearly 13% next year.

David Wallach of Barclay Street Real Estate told Global News that this is a positive sign of more diverse activity in the downtown core.

Wallach told Global News: “One thing we didn’t have before the collapse was diversity.”

Rising values ​​mean more property tax revenues for the city, which can “lighten and balance the burden” for businesses outside the downtown core, but Wallach said it will settle overnight. He said it would take time to recover.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the city council has some “difficult decisions” ahead of it during its deliberations, and that there could be discussions about the distribution of property taxes across the city.

“Non-residential real estate contributes significantly more than residential real estate,” Gondek said after submitting the proposed budget to Congress on Tuesday.

Residential real estate contributes 52% of the property tax allocation, while non-residential real estate contributes 48%.

But Gondek said non-residential properties would be taxed at a higher rate, adding that next year’s proposal would make these properties pay more than four times more tax than residential properties.

City councils can pass the tax burden off businesses, but that means housing will have to bear more of the burden.

“We have to balance the interests of the business community, we have to think about what that means in terms of investment and economic growth, we have to think about what that means. Let’s say, homeowners of houses,” said Gondek.

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce hopes there will be a discussion about changing property tax rates, but CEO Deborah Yedlin said it would be difficult in the current economic environment.

Yedlin told Global News: “Given the inflationary environment and the challenges we face from the wider picture, it will be difficult to find the adjustments we want.

“Let’s make sure they are set up for success and think about how to rebalance their tax burden so they can continue to grow and attract people and opportunities.”

Yedlin added that the Chamber is being encouraged by several priorities in the proposed budget, including investments in public safety, infrastructure, transportation and downtown revitalization.

“We want to ensure that some of the initiatives being implemented with this budget are not canceled,” Yedlin said. “That’s something we’re watching very closely.”

The City Council will begin budget deliberations on November 21st.

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