City’s budgeting math doesn’t add up
By Lethbridge Herald on November 30, 2022.
Editor:
In Mayor Hyggen’s recent monthly column in the Lethbridge Herald, he wrote, “With the new initiatives we have recommended, the increase is now proposed at 5.10 per cent for each of the next four years. This is equivalent to a $129.93 per year per single family residence based on an average market value of $285,500.”
When I apply arithmetic to those numbers using information from the City’s website, I get a different result. I did a teeny bit of rounding to keep the numbers easy. Our property taxes have three takers. For every tax dollar collected, 76 cents is for the City operating budget, 23 cents goes to school boards and one cent is for Green Acres.
So the portion that city council manages is three-quarters of the tax bill. The property tax on an average market value, single-family home is about $3,000.
Three-quarters of that is $2,250, and 22 per cent of that is $495. I calculate $495 but the mayor’s number is $130. That is more than a $365 difference.
Why, when I use simple arithmetic and information from the City’s website, am I so far out? Mayor Hyggen, would you please detail how to do this calculation in your column next month?
Marinus ML Boogart
Lethbridge
9-8
Your math does not add-up. Hyggen’s figure of $129.93 is for 1 year and your figure of $495 is for 4 years. When doing any calculation, using the same variables is important!
the rate hikes are a significant burden, egregious, and not warranted. we need an audit, and we need some real leaders on council.