Edmonton Chamber of Commerce calls for tax freeze as public weighs in on city budget – Edmonton Journal

November 23, 2015

More than two dozen Edmonton residents turned out to weigh in on Edmonton’s next three-year operating budget Monday. The proposed budget includes a 4.9-per-cent tax increase, but doesn’t include a long list of new initiatives city council was hoping to see in the next couple years. Here are five arguments made.

Freeze taxes in tough economic times

Edmonton’s business community can’t handle another tax increase this year, argued Edmonton Chamber of Commerce chief executive Janet Riopel.

No increase should be the city’s target, she said. Edmonton businesses are re-examining priorities and putting a freeze on new hires in a difficult economic climate. Edmonton city council should, too, she said. “We’re calling for a pragmatic, no frills budget,” she said, calling for additional tax levies on neighbourhood renewal and the Valley Line LRT to be suspended.

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