Why are property taxes so high in Lethbridge?
By Lethbridge Herald on March 12, 2025.
Editor,
I would like to ask a question to our elected officials and City management. Why are our property taxes so high in Lethbridge? I did my own personal synopsis in the major municipalities in Alberta. Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Medicine Hat, all gathered from friends that reside in their respective communities.
Based on property values, property size, age of building and location, nothing seems to equate. Does Lethbridge have better services, better roads, better everything for citizens to at least accept the burden of high property taxes?
I love the sign on 43 Street North pointing East to the new commercial subdivision in In Industrial Park (County of Lethbridge) “Why did the chicken cross the road? Taxes!”
Sean Ryan
Lethbridge
7-6
This is one reason, I’m sure there are more. Parks. Lethbridge has the most Parks per capita in canada. At least it was that way 5 years ago and someone has to pay to maintain those parks. They’re nice to have but expensive. Wait a couple years till we have to pay for the Agri-hub after the city uses all of our “emergency” funds. The Agri-hub reminds me of the art gallery. Champagne tastes.
$43 million for bicycle trails. Snow plow trucks out driving around yesterday, where’s the snow? Too many redundant, unnecessary, overpaid jobs in City Hall. And then there’s the Exhibition.. . Should I go on….?
City admin and council are silently rubbing their hands with glee and stifle laughter at the in camera meetings. With assessed values increasing on residential properties anywhere from 10-25% with no change in the mill rates, they are in for a massive influx of “unexpected funds”.Suggestions, don’t put it into anything that resembles ABCP, suddenly discover massive social engineering projects that have been “left behind”. If they ever do any more “civic” project suggest hiring a real “ball buster” to oversee the project, who is spending what, who is putting in change order requests to budgets, line by line accountability and receipts and on and on and on. There was a city councillor attached to the LDE board but apparently resigned. Anyone have any idea who this person was??
Why are you seniors so ignorant and refuse to look at the facts? Under these Reformers, pretending they are conservatives we estimate that Albertans have been cheated out of $1.2 Trillion by slashing Lougheed’s oil royalties and corporate tax structures. They are deliberately underfunding our Healthcare and Education system along with our municipalities because they don’t have the money. Why is that so hard for you to understand? It didn’t happen in Norway and Alaska and it wasn’t this way when Lougheed was running the province properly. Believing the lies these Reformers feed you has put us in this position.
So Allan, Notley had a chance to fix it, ran a nine month royalty review. Changed nothing. Accomplished massive job losses and loss of investment. UCP still playing catch up.. You forgot again the dead, Klein. Usually something about 400.00 checks. Don’t forget your Horton Oil Buddies. Keep shooting. YOu have Norway on the brain.
It’s impossible to change the excellent oil royalty rate structure of Peter Lougheed, after they were permanently altered by Ralph Klein.
Here’s an answer as to why municipalities in Alberta must charge increased municipal property taxes. Blame the UCP for it.
https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/home/rural-municipalities-of-alberta-pushing-for-unpaid-energy-industry-taxes-7562940
When we first moved here from Halifax in 1998, I made 2 statements shortly thereafter about the city of Lethbridge. The first was, “Boy this sure feels like an American city.” The second was I called Lethbridge, “The little city that thinks it’s Toronto.”
lol. I think they think they are New York. If you look at some maps there is even and “upper east side”