Alberta budget hikes homeowner's property tax bill

Calgary homeowners will be paying even more in propertytaxes in the wake of Alberta's deficit budget.

About half the money the City of Calgary collects in property taxes goes to the province as an education tax.

The province announced Tuesday itneeds an extra $82 million in education tax as part of the 2009-2010 budget. The size of the hike will vary across Alberta communities. In Calgary, the province is looking for an extra $38 million, orabout seven per cent, from Calgary's property tax base.

"Of course it means taxpayers are going to get hit more," Mayor Dave Bronconnier said Tuesday night.

Ald. Gord Lowe, chair of the city's finance committee,estimates the increase will work out to an extra $27 a year for the average homeowner, an amount that will be added to theproperty tax bill on top ofthe extra $20 Calgary city council approved last fall.

Thosebills will be mailed out next month and are due in June.

City council alreadyincreased its portion of the 2009 propertytax bill by 5.3 per cent.

Infrastructure fund cut

The province has also cut the Municipal Sustainability Initiative designed to pay for infrastructure projects to $100 million, compared to $458 million granted last year.

Bronconnier said Tuesdayhedoesn't know"which programs, if any, may be in jeopardy."

"All I can say is we have an agreement. We are working with the province. They have some significant budgetary challenges. We want to help them through that but at the same time we want some firm commitments in and around the agreement that is in place today."

The Progressive Conservative government introduced a budget with a $4.7-billion deficit on Tuesday, the province's first in 16 years and its largest ever, as it puts billions toward infrastructure funding and forecast deficits through to 2012.