Budget and affordability

• Bell: Say what? Calgary's Gondek-led council won't roll back pay hike | Calgary Sun (Published Jan 17, 2024)
  • “‘I don’t blame Calgarians for reaching out to us and taking it personally right now that we see a little bit more money on our paycheques and they don’t,’ said Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp. Sharp added that she, like some other councillors, would be donating the incremental pay raise to a local organization.”
• Calgary councillors to attempt a clawback of tax shift increase, with potential rebate - LiveWire Calgary
  • “Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said there’s still time to tinker around with the city budget. It’s not finalized until March, she said. Further, she said that given direction, administration could find ways to pare things back without affecting affordability. ‘Administration can push off what they may not need at this moment, and still be able to deliver on our top two priorities, which were affordability for Calgarians and public safety,’ Sharp said. She felt as though 10 cost-cutting amendments put forward during the budget deliberations in November got no consideration and little debate. ‘It was like there was already a predetermined outcome that we were moving forward on what they called investments. Now, the six of us got back together, the ones that didn’t vote for the overall budget and said, you know, there’s got to be an opportunity here to look at something to do for Calgarians in general, before we head into mid-cycle.’”
• Calgary city council rejects tax cut proposal - Calgary | Globalnews.ca
  • “At Tuesday’s council meeting, Coun. Sharp amended the motion to direct city administration to recommend one-time operating and capital budget adjustments to reduce the 2024 budget by $23 million.” // “Wong and Sharp said they’ve heard from constituents that the property tax increase is too burdensome during a cost of living crisis. ‘Most people’s finances are strained right now. An eight per cent increase is extremely tone deaf,’ Sharp said. ‘This also means next year’s tax increase will be 5.5 (per cent).’ Sharp later added council and administration need to be more flexible with the budget. ‘We have room for $23 million. If we cannot find $23 million in a $5 billion budget, we may be doing something wrong,’ Sharp said.” // “Sharp told reporters following the meeting she felt Gondek’s motion was a ‘political play to save face.’”
• City of Calgary posts $238M budget surplus for 2023 | CBC News (Published April 17, 2024)
  • “Councillor Sonya Sharp said a surplus is better than a deficit, but that she isn't happy with the size of the number. ‘It's disappointing to see that amount of surplus being brought forward after we see our taxes get increased 8.6 per cent,’ said Sharp. ‘So what frustrates me is the fact that we aren't budgeting properly.’
• Calgary budget prep begins with a council preview of upcoming adjustments - LiveWire Calgary (Published September 14, 2024)
  • Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said that the city is quite leveraged right now, with not much movement in the budget.
  • “I’m expecting that there’s going to be a lot of uncomfortable conversations from now until the end of November,” she said.
• City admin proposal asks Calgarians to dig just a little deeper on a 2025 property tax increase - LiveWire Calgary (Published September 16, 2024)
  • Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said that having two months provides a runway for difficult conversations.
  • “I think what I look forward to in the next two months is working with my constituents and Calgarians and focusing on the things they really want us to invest in now,” she said.
• Bell: Calgary city hall's real property tax hike for you is 6.4% | Calgary Herald (Published September 20, 2024)
  • “They’re burying the number,” says Coun. Sonya Sharp.
• Calgary budget town hall digs into Ward 1 citizen priorities - LiveWire Calgary (Published Oct 24, 2024)
  • Coun. Sonya Sharp hosted dozens of Ward 1 residents Wednesday evening to get their take on priorities for mid-cycle Calgary budget deliberations coming up in November.
• Growing population and need to limit tax hikes squeezing City of Calgary budget | CBC News (Published November 5, 2024)
  • "I know that there will be members of council bringing things forward that may add to the budget, but I'll be bringing things forward that will reduce the budget," said the Ward 1 councillor.
• Proposed Calgary budget adjustments would see 3.6% property tax increase (Published November 6, 2024)
• Investment income saves the day in a flurry of Calgary budget activity to pare property taxes - LiveWire Calgary (Published November 11, 2024)
  • Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said it’s an election year – and anything’s possible. She thinks they can cut the property tax increase in half – or at least keep it under two per cent.
• Calgary council members 'not impressed' with budget docs delay (Published November 15, 2024)
• Calgary close-up: Councillor to look for further savings during city budget debate | Watch News Videos Online (Published November 16, 2024)
  • Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp details why she believes more savings can be found to reduce the property tax increase facing Calgarians as city council prepares to debate the budget.
• Calgary council to debate 3.6% property tax hike as budget looks to pump brakes on notable projects | CBC News (Published November 18, 2024)
• Bell: Gondek, Fearless Five councillors wrangle over property taxes (Published November 20, 2024)
  • Sharp wonders if city hall higher-ups are playing politics and if this budget is just “a better way of hiding money.”
  • “If people don’t like our approach, so be it,” says Sharp.
• Group of Calgary city councillors to propose amendments to cut budget spending - Calgary | Globalnews.ca (Published November 20, 2024)
  • “What we’re saying is even if we can find one per cent, we’re alleviating burden on Calgarians right now,” Sharp told reporters.
• NewsTalk QR770 (20:00) (Aired November 19, 2024)
  • Councillor Sonya Sharp says no-one should be surprised that she and some other Councillors are bringing forward amendments now to the budget
• Council continues to debate spending at budget debate as pool gets apparent reprieve | CTV News (Published November 21, 2024)
  • "The reserves will run dry and guess what happens when reserves run dry? You have to increase taxes. So what are we doing? Setting everybody up for failure in the next budget cycle," said Coun. Sonya Sharp, the ward 1 representative.

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