City council has decided to help all homeowners in Calgary this next year by reducing homeowner’s utility rate. Rates are still planned to increase by 2.5 percent in the coming year, but this is less than the originally planned 8.3 percent increase.
The savings are due in part to the city’s new off-site levies. Changes to levies, which are paid by developers on new projects for basic infrastructure such as water and sewer lines, are helping to deter some of the costs. These cuts are seen as a positive step to give homeowners a break.
City council says that they’ll continue to look into a more comprehensive package of relief from the Fiscal Stability Reserve (a.k.a. the rainy-day fund). Additionally, Calgary City Council is looking into cutting other cost-cutting measures to help taxpayers while still providing a high level of service.
