Taxpayers’ Federation says city should hold referendum before adding taxes
Posted May 21, 2015 11:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As the city turns its discussion on how to fund a $1.4-billion dollar shortfall in infrastructure money over to Calgarians, many are wondering how viable their proposed solutions will be.
Most of the ideas involve raising taxes or adding new levies and the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federations thinks councillors should be careful when asking for additional taxing powers from the province.
Paige MacPherson, Alberta director for the CTF, calls it a case of sticky fingers.
“I mean, if you look at some of the options that council is mulling over right now: a Calgary-specific sales tax, a gas tax hike of four cents per litre, exactly like the one we were just hammered with across Alberta,” she explained.
MacPherson says although public engagement is a good step, they would be wise to take it a step further.
“I think that it’s important that they get the consent of taxpayers in Calgary, and that’s why I think a city-wide referendum on any new taxing powers is necessary,” she said.
McPherson says ultimately, it won’t be surprising if Calgarians aren’t in favour of any of the new taxes council is proposing.
