Adjustments
2025 budget adjustments
On Nov. 5, Administration shared the recommended adjustments to the 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets with Council.
Our recommendations balance affordability with the challenges of rising service demand, aging infrastructure, rapid population growth and high inflation. These factors impact the services we deliver to Calgarians and customer satisfaction. Our adjustments also respond to the evolving needs expressed by Calgarians and businesses.
Why we're making adjustments
Calgarians need a safe, sustainable and resilient city. Our goal is to balance delivering City services, continuing capital projects and ensuring community development to address Council’s priorities. To ensure we’re focused on the priorities of Calgarians and adapt to economic changes, we update our budget each year.
To help decide what we invest in, we use data-driven results in our recommendations. This approach includes feedback the Survey of Calgarians, The City’s performance reports, Calgary & Region Economic Outlooks and research presented to Council.
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Have your say on budget adjustments
Council will deliberate our recommended adjustments starting Nov. 18.
Have your say and help Council identify which investment areas are most important to you.
Register to provide written feedback or speak at Council.
Investing in what matters most
We’re recommending the following investments to address what matters most to Calgarians:
Infrastructure, maintenance and inspections
We’re investing in our water systems and improving pavement quality on high-speed roads, as well as other capital investments to maintain or improve infrastructure.
Housing, land use and local area planning
We’re investing in new community growth and supporting redevelopment in older communities, allowing for an increase in housing supply.
Public safety and downtown revitalization
We’re investing to make downtown and public transit safer for everyone.
Transit and transportation
We’re providing ongoing funding to improve services and keep transit running smoothly. We’ll continue to invest in expanding our transit network.
How we are getting there
Property Tax
Earlier this year, Council directed us to maintain the 2025 property tax increase at 3.6 per cent for existing properties. We looked closely at our investment strategies and funding priorities. Administration worked hard to find funding without additional increases to taxes or fees by:
- Reviewing corporate financial capacity.
- Leveraging other funding sources like grants and reserves.
- Reprioritizing projects within Services.
- Reallocating capital funds to higher priority projects.
This has allowed us to maintain the Council-approved 3.6 per cent property tax increase for 2025.
Utilities
Utilities are essential for Calgarians. Investing in maintenance and enhanced inspections is key to ensuring reliability now and in the future. However, current rates haven’t kept up with the pressures of our growing and aging system. Administration is proposing an increase in user fees for Water and Waste & Recycling as these services receive very little or no property tax support. This will help us keep pace with inflation and population growth, ensuring that existing infrastructure is reliable and resilient now and into the future.
Mid-Cycle Adjustments to the 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets: User Fee and Rate Adjustments
Financial impact on Calgarians
In total, these adjustments mean that a typical single residential property, assessed at the median value of $700,000 in 2025 with a typical metered usage (19m³ or approximately 90 bathtubs full), will pay an additional $8.37 in property tax and $5.09 in waste & recycling and water utilities per month.
Mid-Cycle Adjustments Overview
We understand that budgets and adjustments can be overwhelming. We’ve put together this at a glance document to help you understand the proposed changes to the 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets.
At a glance documentDownload our detailed reports
- MCA to 2023-2026 Service Plans and budgets
- Recommended Investments
- User Fees and Rate Adjustments
- Capital Budget Adjustments
- Operating Budget Adjustments with no net budget impact
- Carry forward of One-Time Operating budget from 2024
- Property Tax Analysis
- Initiatives Adjustments
- Risk Analysis
- Municipal Fiscal Gap Report Update
- Borrowing Bylaws
- Operating budget continuity schedule
- Capital budget continuity schedule
- Council Presentation
Frequently asked questions
As we approach the start of 2025 budget deliberations, we’re answering questions that Calgarians have been asking about the budget. Stay tuned as we provide answers to frequently asked questions.
Why do property taxes increase as our population grows? Aren’t we collecting more tax from more people?
Property tax revenue lags and grows at a slower rate than population growth.
Property taxes are generated from properties instead of income or the number of people living in Calgary. Over the past two years, our population has increased by more than 140,000 people, but housing hasn’t increased at the same rate.
Property taxes also make up half of The City’s operating revenue, so it grows slower than our population growth. Some of The City’s other revenue sources do not grow with population.
Thus, the amount of property tax we collect grows slower than our population, which requires property tax increases to maintain City services such as Fire, Police and Transit.
Increased population means increased service demand.
As Calgary’s population increases, so does the demand for City services. This can include more people using transit services, more cars on the roads and more people using public spaces. This higher demand on services requires prompt funding, even though the increase in property tax revenue from new properties takes time to catch up.
Investing now for future housing and growth.
When a new community is developed, we build and run new roads, sewers, fire stations and other infrastructure. The costs to build and operate these essential services is paid before any of the homes and businesses are built or paying property tax.
Our 2025 budget adjustments include investments that support the increase in housing supply for Calgarians.
How do Calgary’s property taxes compare to other cities?
Calgary’s property taxes are some of the lowest among major cities in Canada. They’re also lower than three of our five closest neighbours.
Breaking it down:
- From 2020-2024, Calgary’s property taxes have increased at a slower rate than most other major Canadian cities – just 1.77%.
- Calgarians on average pay lower property taxes as a percentage of household income than most major cities in Canada.
- With our 2025 budget investments, Calgary will still have one of the lowest tax increases.
Learn more about our Financial facts.
2024 adjustments
On Nov. 22 2023, Council approved adjustments to The City of Calgary’s service plans and budgets. These adjustments balance the desire to keep property tax and water, sewer and waste and recycling fee increases as affordable as possible for Calgarians while making meaningful investments in priority areas, such as affordable housing, public safety, and transit.
Adjustments process
Here is how the Adjustments process works: