BANFF – Banff residents are looking at a 9.79 per cent municipal tax increase this year.
Council passed the 2024-26 operating budget on Wednesday (Jan. 17) on a 5-2 vote, with a 9.79 per cent hike in 2024, which equates to an additional $9 per month and $111 per year on a tax bill on an average 2022 residential dwelling assessed at $467,100.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said the Town of Banff is still dealing with the impacts of providing substantial tax relief in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the phase-back in of the reduced transfers to capital reserves, while also budgeting for higher insurance and inflation.
She said many services are funded without tax support through visitor paid parking revenues such as enhanced transit, while the franchise fee-funded environmental reserve pays for the Library of Things, including a new position to oversee the popular program.
She said six per cent of the tax increase is associated with inflation and catching up on reserves, while one per cent is towards costs for additional staffing to be able to meet the municipality’s existing levels of services and programs.
“The way I see it is seven per cent of this 9.79 tax increase is due diligence, it’s inflation, it’s insurance, it’s catching up on transfers to capital reserves, and it’s ensuring we meet service levels,” she said.
The total municipal tax level is $24.9 million for 2024 for the $66 million operating budget, with the balance coming from utility fees, business licences, visitor paid parking revenues and other grants.
As part of the draft operating budget, staff are set to get a 3.95 per cent wage adjustment next year, which is based on a blend of two indicators of the Conference Board of Canada’s growth outlook at 2.9 per cent and Alberta CPI of five per cent.
New staffing positions in the 2024-26 operating budget are an accounting coordinator position, heavy equipment technician, accounts payable coordinator, and finance intern, which an independent report advised were needed to meet current levels of service.
Stuart Back, chief operating officer of Pursuit, raised concerns about a 38 per cent increase in the Town of Banff’s wages and benefits since 2019, while taxes and gross revenues are only up 20-23 per cent over the same time period.
“That’s pretty unsustainable as far as salaries and wages growth. If you were a business, you’d be really worrying about going out of business if you were doing that,” he said.
Wanda Bogdane, executive director of Banff and Lake Louise Hospitality Association, said she was pleased to see council defer some projects and programs during budget deliberations, but it didn’t go far enough.
“Coming just below that threshold of a double digit tax increase, it’s not enough for the community with the affordability challenges that residents are up against,” she said.
Bogdane spoke to the trickle down effect of big tax hikes, noting the tourism industry wants to retain workers.
“We actually want to see this play out through the commercial sector as well, where they are buying their goods and tapping into the services,” she said.
“And that businesses don’t have to accommodate those (tax) increases within their rates, making this inaccessible for our community.”
Revenues from healthy visitor pay parking revenues are allowing for a boost in programs and services this year, including expansion of the low-income transit pass program to help with affordability in the community.
Council also approved additional Roam service to the industrial compound early morning to help local workers to and from town, as well as extended summer season service on route 1 and expanded winter service hours on routes 1 and 2.
With parking revenues, additional flaggers will be employed during the busy summer to help move traffic through key intersections.
Coming out of the environment reserve is a program to loan money to homeowners for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to their home, and a lawn replacement incentive program.
To shave off some operating costs, the census has been put off this year, with an alternate option to be considered for 2026, and the Canada Day pyrotechnics display has been cancelled.
Couns. Hugh Pettigrew and Ted Christensen were the only two councillors to vote against the operating budget.
Pettigrew was unsuccessful in cutting taxes by covering $1 million of the Roam requisition in the operating budget with parking revenues for 2024, $1.5 million in 2025 and about $2 million in 2026.
He said increasing parking fees and expanding visitor pay parking to other areas of town could help boost the pay parking reserves.
“I realize how precious our VPP operating reserve is, yet I want to use it to reduce taxes four or five per cent,” he said.
“I believe the transit deficit (requisition) could be eliminated over time using the visitor pay parking, and I don’t suggest we do that in one year.”
The move was shut down by the majority of council, though some were not necessarily against the philosophy further down the road.
Coun. Grant Canning said the idea of parking revenues is to primarily deal with congestion through bigger-picture projects and programs, such as fare-free transit for locals and expanded Roam service.
“I see this as really short-sighted because we’re focusing on a tax rate, we’re not focusing on where we want our transit system to be five years from now, 10 years for now,” he said.
“I don’t see transit as a tax burden on our citizens. In fact, I see it quite the opposite.”
Coun. Olver was also quick to voice opposition, noting Pettigrew’s motion would leave a $4 million deficit in the pay parking operating reserve in 2026, with no way to make that up.
“It’s not going to improve our vehicle movement and people movement through the community. It’s going to make it worse because we won’t be able to deal with the demands that are coming forward on us,” she said.
“Transit has had such a positive impact on this community that I just can’t imagine what we would be living with on a daily basis, especially in the summer, if we didn’t have transit.”
In addition, Pettigrew failed in his pitch to transfer $150,000 from the budget stabilization reserve – which has a cap of $1.16 million and minimum target of $$960,000 – to cut taxes by another 0.8 per cent.
But with a projected year-ending balance of $255,800 in that reserve, the rest of council wouldn’t go there, except for Christensen.
Coun. Kaylee Ram said leaving a balance of $105,000 leaves the municipality too unprepared for unprecedented or unexpected events, such as COVID-19, emergency management and cybersecurity attack.
“I would hate for the community to feel that we can’t mitigate any unanticipated, unprecedented events by completely depleting this reserve,” she said. “I am not comfortable with that.”
Banff’s municipal taxes have increased about 20 per cent since 2019, but the average annual increase over the past five years is about four per cent.
Following the 17 per cent municipal tax cut in 2020, the tax increase was 12.4 per cent in 2021, 4.9 per cent in 2022, 11.1 per cent in 2023 and now proposed at 10.4 per cent for 2024.
“I think that this look with a five-year window, with dramatic changes to our entire community, and our only economy, is really important to take a grand look at,” said Coun. Barb Pelham of the 20 per cent increase since 2019.
