{"id":502878,"date":"2026-02-27T10:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502878\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T10:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:50:21","slug":"2026-alberta-budget-taxes-criticized-as-another-version-of-equalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502878\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Alberta budget taxes criticized as \u2018another version of equalization\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe have a huge deficit, so that means the debt is going up, spending is going up, and taxes are going up. So it was really terrible to see this today,\u201d said Kris Simms, Alberta director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation<\/a>, when asked her reaction to the 2026 Alberta budget<\/a> that was tabled in the legislature on Thursday by provincial finance minister Nate Horner.<\/p>\n

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The biggest news out of the budget is a predicted $9.4-billion deficit<\/a>, which the UCP government blamed on lower than expected oil prices and higher than expected spending due to rapid population growth.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe 2026 Alberta Budget forecasts a $9.4 billion deficit that the UCP government blames, largely, on lower than expected world oil prices.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the budget shows the UCP has mismanaged the province\u2019s finances, broken its own rules, and lost the moral authority to govern.<\/p>\n

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He said the budget, despite record levels of oil production, makes the cost of living more expensive with a string of new fees \u2014 $360 million this year alone \u2013 while failing to solve fundamental problems in health care and education.<\/p>\n

And to top it off, he said, \u201cDanielle Smith and the UCP have saddled future generations, our kids and our grandkids, with billions and billions of dollars in debt with no path to balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Premier Danielle Smith has been signaling for weeks that the deficit would be \u201csignificant,\u201d but also promised there would be no tax hikes or \u201cdeep\u201d service cuts to combat the deficit.<\/p>\n

However, among the new fees and levies included in the budget are big increases in the education property tax that municipalities collect on behalf of the province, that will cost the typical homeowner in Calgary $340 more a year and in Edmonton, $154 more.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKris Simms, Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation called the province\u2019s decision to hike many fees and levies as \u201csneaky ways of having tax hikes without trying to call them tax hike.\u201d [00:01:33][6.2].\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a property tax hike on Albertans under the name of education,\u201d said Simms. \u201cFees are just taxes. Levies are just taxes. If the government is forcibly taking more money from you (it) doesn\u2019t matter what they try to call it, it\u2019s still a tax.\u201d Sims called the increases in fees and levies \u201csneaky ways of having tax hikes without trying to call them tax hike.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for where the province could cut spending, Simms said the government should \u201cgo through AHS with a fine-toothed comb.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhy do we still have directors directing directors there, all making well over a hundred grand?,\u201d asked Simms.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf they would have just cut that number of directors in half, taxpayers would be saving more than $20 million,\u201d added Simms, saying \u201cIt shows a lack of fiscal responsibility and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the province also \u201ccould\u2019ve gotten rid of all corporate welfare \u2014 that includes not giving millions of dollars to NHL teams for arenas and plazas because they want them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta budget 2026 comes with some spending hikes but also a $9.4B deficit\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas reacted by taking aim at the province\u2019s decision to hike education property taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalgarians at this point are contributing more than ever before in provincial property taxes and the provincial portion of the property tax increased by 15.6 per cent in 2025 and we\u2019re going to see a very similar increase in 2026. This represents an increase of more than 30 per cent over the past two years. An equivalent to a total of more than $1.1 billion annually,\u201d said Farkas.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re pretty much on track for having about a 50-50 share of property taxes being delivered to the city and to the province. What this means essentially is that we\u2019re getting very close, perilously close, to half of every property tax dollar being collected in the City of Calgary going to the provincial government to fund provincial priorities without a very clear line of sight in terms of whether that\u2019s being invested back here in the city of Calgary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf property taxes are being jacked up for Calgarians and that money is being spent elsewhere in other municipalities, we\u2019re just seeing another version of equalization like Alberta is being taken advantage of in total, when we think about confederation,\u201d said Farkas, who suggested the province could also take a lesson from Calgary\u2019s new city council on how to control the tax increases.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tCalgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas reacted to the 2026 Alberta budget by suggesting the province could learn some lessons from the city on fiscal accountability.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus as a council has been doing our fair part. We inherited about a six per cent property tax increase proposed by our city administration at the end of last year. We did the hard work to lower tax increase to about 1.6 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe did that at the same time as investing in critical infrastructure,\u201d added Farkas, pointing to the need for the city to replace the \u201cterminally ill\u201d South Bearspaw Feeder Main at a cost of $200 million as an example.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tRelated News\n\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tAlberta budget 2026 comes with spending hikes but $9.4B deficit\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tFees and taxes: How the 2026 Alberta budget may hit your wallet\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done our part and we\u2019re calling on the provincial government to do their part, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farkas\u2019 counterpart in Edmonton, Andrew Knack, was also critical of the failure by the provincial government to include more funding for critical infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough consecutive provincial governments for the last 15 years \u2014 this is an issue that municipalities across the province continue to face \u2014 what is the plan to begin to start to address that? We appreciate it\u2019s a tight budget, but what is that forward-looking plan that allows municipalities to start catching up with the incredibly rapid population we\u2019ve been seeing over the last 15 years and how can we work together to make sure we\u2019re serving the folks we represent across the province.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the hike in the education property tax, Knack called it \u201ca good investment\u201d and said the city of Edmonton will \u201chappily collect\u201d the additional money for the province if it\u2019s used to help build and staff more schools.<\/p>\n

Overall, Knack was more conciliatory than Farkas, saying \u201csince becoming mayor, it\u2019s been about four months and I\u2019ve had some incredible conversations with the premier and a number of ministers. I felt it\u2019s very constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s what I expected. I think it\u2019s a very sort of neutral budget,\u201d added Knack.<\/p>\n

Kris Simms of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, meanwhile, said, \u201cI can\u2019t really think of good things to say on this budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta budget deficit expected despite record resource revenue\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe have a huge deficit, so that means the debt is going up, spending is going up, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[200795,196693,99354,49,48,200796,46,44,714],"class_list":{"0":"post-502878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-2026-alberta-budget","9":"tag-alberta-premier-danielle-smith","10":"tag-andrew-knack","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-canadian-taxpayers-federation","14":"tag-economy","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}