Assistant
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
metronews.ca | twitter.com/metrocalgary | facebook.com/metrocalgary
CALGARY NEWS WORTH SHARING.
Call today! 403.920.0070 417 14th Street NW, Calgary
Get started at robertsoncollege.com
Pope reaches out to gays “Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis asks, signalling a new openness toward gay PAGE 6 priests
OH WELL, LA-DI-DA ...
Hundreds call for pit bull to be spared
IS ANNIE HALL THE GREATEST WOODY ALLEN MOVIE OF THEM ALL? METRO’S RANKING OF THE FILMMAKER’S WORK CONTAINS SOME SURPRISES PAGE 12
The fate of dog shot by police PAGE 3 lies with the courts
Compromise puts $52M to flood — for now Rising costs. Damage to city-owned assets nearing $500 million, with not all expenses covered by province or insurance ROBSON FLETCHER
robson.fletcher@metronews.ca
‘HE WAS LIKE AN ANGEL’
Family and friends are mourning the death of 12-year-old Neil Nahal. The local boy was killed when his dirt bike collided with an SUV over the weekend. Story, page 4. COURTESY/NAHAL FAMILY
The $52 million in provincial “tax room” collected this year will be devoted to flood recovery and mitigation, city council decided on Monday, pledging to re-evaluate in November what to do with the funds next year and beyond. Mayor Naheed Nenshi initially wanted to devote two years’ worth of the money — $104 million in total — to repair and rebuild damaged city infrastructure but accepted an amendment from Ald. Shane Keating to limit it to one year for now. “I think that’s prudent,” Nenshi said. “I think it makes sense to have a report with more information come to us as we determine how to spend in 2014.” That determination will happen during the city’s regular budget deliberations in
Fighting words
“You bet this is an election issue.” Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart, who voted against returning the $52 million to taxpayers.
November, likely making the matter a major election issue when Calgarians go to the polls in October. “You bet this is an election issue,” said Ald. Diane ColleyUrquhart, who earlier in the meeting put forward an unsuccessful motion to return the $52 million to taxpayers in 2014 and beyond by reducing the city’s property-tax rate accordingly. That motion was defeated by a 9-5 vote, with ColleyUrquhart, Ald. Shane Keating, Ald. Peter Demong, Ald. Ray Jones and Ald. Andre Chabot on the losing side. Voting with the majority, Ald. Gian-Carlo Carra offered the strongest critique of the “give-it-back crowd,” saying many Calgarians who support returning the tax room to taxpayers “do not understand where the money comes from.” “There is a significant chunk of the give-it-back crowd who just basically hate
government, hate taxes, and their mission is to smallify and eradicate both,” he said. “I just do not align with that political line of thought at all. I don’t agree with that sort of Tea Party vision of the world and I’m glad we live in Canada.” Jones, however, said he was voting to give the money back to fulfil the wishes of his constituents, noting that of the 25 people who contacted his office on Monday morning alone, all 25 said that’s what council should do with the $52 million. Most aldermen opposed returning the $52 million already collected in 2013 property taxes, due to the estimated $1-million cost and logistical challenges of doing so. The tax room is the result of funds left over when the province allocated a smallerthan-expected share of Calgary’s property taxes to education this year, while taking larger amounts of money from other municipalities’ tax rolls that previously paid less. Online
For more local news go to metronews.ca