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You may recall that a few years ago the City of Calgary considered, and then passed a bylaw that consolidated the Business Tax with the Non-Residential Property Tax. BOMA Calgary opposed the proposal on the grounds that it actually represented a tax increase of over $200 million to commercial real estate in Calgary. This is because vacant units, as well as land and buildings under construction or renovation would be subject to the property tax. While the City’s stated intent was to streamline taxation, the estimated $1.3 million per year administrative savings paled in comparison to the private economic loss of the new tax.
In the end, the City went ahead with consolidation anyways, but BOMA did secure a phased implementation so that owners and managers can better prepare for the administrative and financial effect. 2014 marks the first year of the phase in, as 10% of the Business Tax will be shifted onto the property tax. This means you will see about a 2.7 percent increase in your Non-Residential Property Tax bill. This phase-in will continue until 2019 at which time the Business Tax will be fully consolidated with the Property Tax.
More information, including a calculator to estimate the affect this will have on your property tax and details on the phase-in, can be found here.