Provincial grant cut costs city $ 5 million

Property taxes for civic agencies no longer covered

The Alberta budget has ended a program that pays property taxes on behalf of seniors homes and social housing facilities, stripping about $ 5 million from City of Calgary coffers.

The government has long exempted civic agencies like Calgary Housing Company from paying property taxes on their affordable housing properties, and covered off the cities’ revenue losses with grants from the Alberta Social Housing Corp.

For Calgary, that grant compensated the municipality for property taxes it would normally receive for the 10,000 units in the housing company’s portfolio.

Alberta Seniors axed that grant-in-lieu program to redirect dollars to seniors lodges in a budget littered with spending cuts and tax hikes to make up for the dramatic

We wanted to make sure we are protecting the front- line services to seniors and vulnerable Albertans.

plunge in natural resource revenues.

“We wanted to make sure we are protecting the front- line services to seniors and vulnerable Albertans,” said Jenny Renner, spokeswoman for Seniors Minister Jeff Johnson.

It’s the second way Alberta’s budget will directly ding municipal coffers.

City finance staff estimate that the four- cent gas tax increase will translate into a $ 2- million hit to the city’s fuel purchasing budget for buses, garbage trucks and other civic vehicles.

The city had been projecting a series of 2015 revenue shortfalls that total $ 20 million, but managers have pledged to find savings through limits on filling vacancies and other methods.

However, the tax grant elimination will add to the city’s fiscal crunch.

“It’s not a deal- breaker, but it’s one more brick in the load they’re putting on us,” said Coun. Jim Stevenson.