The forces behind a decade of tax change in Edmonton

Some numbers in life only ever increase — the date, your age, the cost of living… and tax rates.

With the newest city budget, Edmontonians are being asked to swallow a 6.4 per cent hike as the city digs out of a fiscal black hole left in the wake of COVID-19.

Postmedia looked back at tax hikes since 2015, when the city made the switch from year-to-year budgets to four-year plans. In that time, Edmonton has seen three mayors over as many councils and residential property taxes increase 44.89 per cent — less than the 70 per cent increase over the preceding decade.

In 2015, on the cusp of a drop in oil prices, city council approved a 2.1 per cent increase in residential property taxes under Mayor Don Iveson. At the time, this set the total rate at 0.0055, which meant that a $401,000 home