Calgary council convenes special meeting over tax-hike leak

Calgary city council convened a special meeting Tuesday to receive legal advice concerning the unauthorized release of preliminary municipal budget documents. Mayor Jeromy Farkas called the closed-door session after Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston publicly acknowledged releasing the material, arguing Calgarians deserved to know what administration had placed before council. Farkas has said the disclosure could carry privacy, personnel, financial and legal consequences. No public decision arising from the meeting was available when this article was prepared.

The leaked documents showed city departments seeking approximately $510 million in additional operating funding for the 2027–2030 budget cycle. Administration estimated that approving every request could require a 20.2% increase in property-tax revenue in 2027. That figure is not an approved or formally recommended tax increase: the documents indicated that approximately $139 million could be accommodated without further increases, while maintaining existing services was projected to require an increase of roughly 5.4%.

The dispute creates an early test for the new council as it prepares for difficult decisions over taxes, services and infrastructure. It also raises questions about how confidential budget information should be handled when preliminary forecasts could materially affect residents and businesses. Any disciplinary response, outside investigation or change to council’s information-sharing rules will now compete with the underlying budget debate—and with Johnston’s argument that public accountability justified the disclosure.