For Alberta residents and business owners, the annual pre-holiday announcement of municipal tax increases has become a frustrating tradition. Despite talk of restraint, genuine tax relief remains elusive, replaced by a cycle of proposed hikes, public backlash, and slightly reduced—but still significant—increases.
The Burden on Businesses and Residents
Across the province, rising property taxes add pressure to households and small businesses already grappling with high interest rates, insurance premiums, and utility costs. For many entrepreneurs, property tax has become their fastest-growing and least predictable expense. Unlike other bills, there is no competitive alternative; you pay what your municipality demands or you close your doors.
In Edmonton, businesses face paying nearly $4,000 more in 2026 due to the city's approved 6.9 per cent property tax increase. The situation in Calgary is similarly strained. Although city council voted to cancel a planned residential to non-residential tax shift for 2026, meaningful movement toward tax fairness is delayed until 2027.
The disparity is stark. Calgary businesses contribute almost half of the city's property tax revenue while representing only 15 per cent of its property assessment base. Current budget forecasts indicate businesses will pay 4.6 times more than residential property owners—a gap wider than in Vancouver, Toronto, or Edmonton.
A Predictable Cycle of Spending Justification
When taxpayers push back, municipalities rarely reconsider their core spending trajectory. The recent pattern is predictable: propose a double-digit tax increase, face public outrage, then "scale it back" to a still-painful hike and declare a compromise.
A proposed 15 per cent increase becomes "only" eight. A 10 per cent hike gets softened to six. The conversation then shifts from whether taxes should rise at all to whether council has been generous enough in reducing the blow. Critics argue this is not meaningful fiscal restraint but sophisticated expectation management.
The Missing Conversation on Fiscal Responsibility
Municipalities consistently cite inflation, growth, and aging infrastructure as justifications for higher spending. However, the question rarely asked is: where are the municipalities that have actually cut spending, held the line, or delivered real tax relief? Their absence speaks volumes about the current state of municipal priorities in Alberta.
True fiscal responsibility isn't about finding new ways to justify higher taxes; it's about making difficult choices within existing means. In the private sector, when revenues tighten, spending adjusts. Governments, however, too often treat budget increases as the default setting, leaving Alberta taxpayers waiting for a break that never seems to come.
