St. Albert is misunderstood. For years I’ve described St. Albert to family who’ve never visited as a safe, pretty city with friendly people, a rich history, painfully confusing roads and perpetually high property taxes.
Taxes, of course, get plenty of ink at this time of year (or anytime for that matter) when the city’s proposed annual budget is released. The 2011 budget calls for an average 3.6 per cent increase to the municipal portion of property tax bills for homeowners and slightly more for businesses at 3.68 per cent.
For a home valued at $400,000, that represents a municipal tax hit of $3,109, or an extra $108 a year. That doesn’t represent your full property tax bill, which also includes the education levy collected by the province (the rate isn’t set but count on at least another $1,000), plus levies for Servus Place ($149) and Sturgeon Foundation ($22), putting the total in excess of $4,000. On top of that are utility fees (not taxes of course) for water, wastewater, garbage or recycling, so add another $1,300 to accommodate another 9.5 per cent! increase.
That all adds up to $5,300, which if it sounds like a lot, it is. But fear not, it’s not as bad as you think, at least not according to the background material included in the budget and published in handy bullet form online and in a four-page spread in last Saturday’s paper. It’s laden with so many numbers, budgetary facts, inflation primers and cross-municipal comparisons it’ll spin your head until you’ll gladly whip out your wallet.
For instance, did you know St. Albert spends $1,600 per capita on city operations, which is below the median for cities across the province? Or that the city has just nine employees per 1,000 people, the second lowest among comparable mid-sized municipalities? And, bet you didn’t know that for the low, low price of $8 a day St. Albert residents can enjoy a high quality of life, “great satisfaction” with city services and a clean environment without big, bad heavy industrial development. And here I thought the lack of industrial was part of the reason why residential taxes are so high, but that’s part of the privilege of living in St. Albert. Pats on the back all around.
These “budget quick facts” reflect a more assertive effort at city hall to counter some of the frequent high-tax criticisms lobbed at St. Albert. It appears to work, with city council at least. When queried about the budget, several members predictably pointed out the increase proposed is lower than Edmonton’s five per cent. It’s the type of misleading logic that drives me batty. Sure, percentage wise it’s smaller than Edmonton, but it also ignores that taxes here are already higher, something that isn’t about to change anytime soon. But more to the point what does Edmonton’s increase have to do with the content and spending direction of St. Albert’s 2011 budget?
The same can be said about the numerous comparators between St. Albert and other cities. There’s a huge divide between operations at Calgary or Edmonton and smaller cities like Lacombe or Camrose. Where St. Albert ranks between those is meaningless. And picking up on that point, as the St. Albert Taxpayers’ Association so ably pointed out at the start of budget proceedings, we’re not talking about apples to apples when it comes to municipal employee comparisons. Unlike Lethbridge or Medicine Hat, St. Albert doesn’t operate its own police department nor does it staff a transit service; both services are contracted out. Medicine Hat also operates its own gas plant, further skewing comparisons. Strathcona County arguably isn’t a fair comparator either given the blend of urban and rural services offered.
It’s not just city staff that grab hold of comparators. I’ve been reminded several times by more than one council member of late that St. Albert does not, thank you very much, have the highest property taxes in Alberta; that distinction belongs to Grande Prairie. If you go strictly by municipal tax rates, then yes Grande Prairie comes out on top. Of course residents only look at the bottom line — their tax bill — which, due to higher property values here, keeps St. Albert on top. But even if that wasn’t the case, what does it say about a city’s tax situation when one of your key talking point is if you think things are bad here, look over there? Or how about the fact that when the budget is released the city feels it necessary to remind residents that annual surveys say we’re mostly happy with services and the value for tax dollar?
Put away the pie charts and stow the comparisons. This budget is about St. Albert and where we’re headed as a city. That should be a pretty straightforward conversation.
Bryan Alary is an editor at the Gazette.
