Five of the councilors debating the City of Calgary’s proposed budget for next year are calling for 20 amendments they say could roll back the 3.6 per cent property tax hike.

According to a press release sent Tuesday morning, councilors Sonya Sharp, Dan McLean, Jennifer Wyness, Andre Chabot and Terry Wong plan to present various amendments this week, as budget deliberations enter their second day at city hall.

While the full list of changes has not yet been revealed, Sharp says none of the changes would affect the front-line services Calgarians rely on.

“We really wanted to make sure we didn’t impact public transport, safety and frontline services. We went further and asked, “What are the things that won’t affect Calgarians right off the bat?” We’re not going to cut transit, we’re not going to cut police or fire,” Sharp told reporters at City Hall Tuesday.

“We looked at the document and said, ‘yes, this makes sense for Calgarians, they want all these things, so what other ways can we save money in the business?'”

One of the key amendments, proposed by Councilors Sharp and McLean, is to combine the city’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) positions – roles held respectively by David Duckworth and Stuart Dalgleish, to “eliminate redundant and costly roles”, we can read in the press release.

Duckworth, responsible for the structure of the administrative bureaucracy, created the new position of COO just over a year ago, and appointed Dalgleish, who was already working in the city, without changing his salary.

Duckworth also changed his title from city manager to CAO, consistent with the position’s legal name in the Municipal Government Act and align Duckworth with its counterparts in other municipalities in the province as well as elsewhere in Canada.

The changes, according to the city, were intended to better focus on service delivery.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek told reporters Tuesday that the decision to change positions in city government would be up to Duckworth and that while councilors can advise Duckworth, the decision is ultimately hers.

“It’s not the city council’s decision,” Gondek said, adding that operations within the city are separate from city governance procedures.

Tax Shift, electric buses

Another major proposal comes from Ward 10’s Chabot and Ward 7’s Wong, who want to eliminate the proposed 1 percent tax shift from commercial to residential properties, to reduce the tax hike for homeowners.

Also according to the press release, Councilor Wyness is concerned about the city’s plan to purchase electric buses, which she believes will cost more than other types of buses and lead to increased wear and tear on the city’s roads. .

She and McLean are calling on the city to shift from purchasing new electric buses to acquiring compressed natural gas vehicles, despite funding agreements already signed with other levels of government.

McLean was asked if federal capital was dependent on Calgary Transit adding electric buses to replace older diesel vehicles in its fleet.

“In a perfect world, that subsidy would then go towards something perhaps more effective and efficient than electric buses,” he said.

Amendments “are not collaborative,” says mayor

As for next year’s budget, Gondek said maintaining the 3.6% property tax increase and what council already committed to two years ago will be important for essential infrastructure and services, even though the city’s population has soared and inflation has soared since then.

“For us to be able to maintain the level at 3.6 means we are still not able to provide a full level of services in many areas that Calgarians need, but we are keeping our promise, knowing that people are facing an affordability crisis. »

If approved by council, the proposed 3.6 percent increase would force the owner of a median-priced home worth $700,000 to pay about $8 more per month in municipal property taxes.

Gondek added that if there are savings to be made, the council should consider them, but she is waiting to see the full list of proposals.

“We spent a year working on this budget, collaborating with each other. We have an executive committee that reviews the budget every month. At that time, none of this had been discussed,” he said. Gondek said.

“So you spend all this time with your colleagues, you never present any of these ideas, and then you throw them at us at the last minute during budget deliberations. It doesn’t seem like you’ve been thought through. It’s not The case sounds like you’re organized, and it’s definitely not collaborative.

With only five councilors named in the press release, but eight votes needed to pass a change to the budget, McLean says he expects the other councilors to agree with their “common sense initiatives.”

“It’s an election year, so I hope the council’s desire will be to find additional savings … without sacrificing any service to the public,” McLean told reporters.