Albertans are being hit by higher taxes because the provincial government is scrambling to cover its overspending.

The government is borrowing another $9.4 billion while tipping the provincial debt over $100 billion for the first time in history.

SIMS: Provincial government hikes taxes on Albertans Back to video

Instead of cutting the size and cost of the government and eliminating wasteful spending, the government is screwing over Alberta taxpayers.

There’s a new tax on rental cars, a hiked tax on hotels and a huge provincial property tax increase.

First, let’s take a look at the taxes on people who travel and work in our province.

The government is slapping a new 6% tax on car rentals in Alberta and it’s hiking its hotel tax up to 6%.

The province is trying to spin this as a tax on tourists and since we won’t see them again, it’s fine to mug them with higher costs.

But that’s not the case.

About 80% of people who stay in hotels and rent cars in Alberta are residents of Alberta, so these tax hikes will just hurt Albertans.

People rent cars and stay in hotels for insurance reasons, family trips and work events. Many businesses get their employees to rent vehicles and stay in hotels for work, so this will also hurt Alberta businesses outside of the car rental agencies and hotels themselves.

This new car rental tax also means someone who’s been in a car crash will pay more to rent a temporary ride.

This tax hike on hotels means families taking their kids to West Edmonton Mall or Drumheller will pay more. It means workers in sectors from the oilsands to the rodeo circuit will be paying more for a room while travelling on the job.

The province plans to rake in about $36 million from the vehicle rental tax and about $200 million from the hiked hotel tax in 2026-27.

The government is hiking taxes on Albertans when they travel away from home.

The government is also hiking taxes on Albertans for the homes they own.

The Education Property Tax rates will rise to $2.84 per $1,000 for residential and farmland properties, and $4.17 per $1,000 for non-residential properties.

Most folks know property taxes are typically imposed by city halls, but this Education Property Tax is a sneaky property tax hike imposed by the province.

The average house price in Alberta is about $513,000.

Those property owners will be paying about $1,457 in the Educational Property Tax to the provincial government.

That cost doesn’t include the municipal tax bill or other taxes.

The provincial government is banking on taking in an additional $468 million due to this property tax hike. That means the total education property tax bill will be $3.6 billion for 2026-27.

Readers will remember the strike by government school teachers in the fall.

The union was demanding more spending.

The government was already spending $8.6 billion building and updating schools and offering a contract that made Alberta teachers the highest paid in Western Canada.

The union demanded $2 billion more.

When a government union demands more money, it’s important to remember where that money comes from: the bank accounts of taxpayers.

Spending on kindergarten to grade 12 education has jumped up by 13.6% over the last two years and that money is now being pulled out of the pockets of homeowners from Medicine Hat to Grande Prairie.

No appetite to cut spending

Instead of shaking taxpayers down for money, the government should have cut wasteful spending.

If the government had cut the size of the bureaucracy back to pre-2020 levels, it would have saved billions. If the government had cut the number of directors at Alberta Health Services who are being paid more than $159,000 per year in half, it would have saved about $28 million.

The government didn’t even bother to cut spending on obvious waste such as arts funding that makes transit station decorations out of garbage. Instead, it hiked funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts by $3.5 million, and it’s planning on handing over $43 million in taxpayers’ money to that group next year.

This government didn’t even try to save money in the budget.

Instead, it’s hiking sneaky taxes on Albertans.

Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

© Edmonton Sun