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Safety, transportation emergency services among congressional budget priorities

“If we want to change the budget, we have to do this as Congress,” Ward 1 Coun said.Sonya Sharp

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City of Calgary administrators will present their proposed budget for the next four years at the city council meeting on Tuesday.

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These documents — 2023–2026 Service Plan and Budget — detail proposed property tax rates and spending priorities as cities grapple with population growth and rising inflation rates, straining their financial resources. To do.

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The budget announcement begins deliberations in Congress on how the city’s funds should be distributed. Word 1 count. Sonya Sharp said she is entering these discussions with several spending priorities in mind, and there are also areas where she believes she can scale back funding, she said. Told.

“I will … look at spending wisely and look at how to say it. What can we pause for now and what do we need to move forward?” Sharpe told reporters last week.

“If we are going to make any changes to the budget, we have to do this as Congress.”

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Earl. Raj Dhaliwal said he would like to see spending investments mainly in some areas such as public transport while maintaining affordability.

He said he was looking for capital that could be allocated to a project to build a rail line to Calgary International Airport.

“For me, transit is very important for the city, not just for the wards. Dhaliwal points out that public transport investments will be in line with the city’s climate strategy, making it affordable, accessible and safe. I believe that good public transport is a fundamental pillar of any successful city.

“Supporting transit with this budget is a natural choice.”

Ward 6 Coun’s main priority. Richard Pootmans is Emergency Services, Social Services, and Parks.

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“[These regions]were hit hard by the pandemic and were under pressure from the incredible demand for services,” said Pootmans. “We’ve been working on this since before Christmas last year, so we thought a lot.”

Safety was a top priority, said Sharp, who said improving transportation and road safety was as important to her as funding Calgary’s fire and police departments.

“We want a safe city. I have some idea of ​​what it is,” Sharpe said.

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On property taxes, Putmans said he hoped the rate hike would cap small factors to explain population growth in addition to inflation. The city estimated in July that tax revenues would need to increase by an average of 3.65% annually over the next four years to keep pace with inflation and growth.

Sharp said he didn’t want a property tax increase, but said it wasn’t realistic given existing spending commitments.

“Most Calgarians would say, ‘I can’t afford to raise prices any more,’ as any average Calgarian would say,” Sharp said. “Based on the approved envelope, that’s not what we see.”

Dhaliwal said he couldn’t comment specifically on property tax rates he’d be comfortable with, but said he thinks Calgarians understand the need for taxes.

“They don’t mind paying property taxes because they understand that the city needs to be run,” Dhaliwal said. “But they want to see affordability and they want a decent return on their investment because property taxes are an investment in the city.”

— Using files from Brodie Thomas

jherring@postmedia.com

twitter: @jasonfherring

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Safety, transportation emergency services among congressional budget priorities

Source link Safety, transportation emergency services among congressional budget priorities

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