A fight over taxes and transparency is boiling over at Calgary City Hall after a councillor admitted to leaking confidential budget documents that revealed what taxpayers could be facing in 2027.

Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston says he released the documents because he believes Calgarians have a right to know what their elected officials are discussing behind closed doors.

The documents revealed more than $500 million in funding requests being considered as the city prepares its next four-year budget.

If every request were ultimately funded, property tax revenue would need to climb by 20.2% in 2027. That figure has quickly become a major point of contention at City Hall.

The 20.2% increase has not been approved, and Mayor Jeromy Farkas has argued the preliminary requests should not be confused with a final tax increase. He has characterized the proposals as an early wish list, with council still having months to decide what stays and what gets cut.

Johnston, however, says there is more to the story.

The Ward 14 councillor says that during confidential discussions, council directed city administration to return with a budget scenario built around an approximately 15% property tax increase for 2027.

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For Johnston, that is precisely the type of information that should be discussed in front of the people who would ultimately be paying the bill.

His decision to release the documents has now sparked a wider battle over secrecy at city hall and how much information elected officials should be allowed to keep from the public during the budget process.

Mayor Farkas has argued there are legitimate reasons for council to meet privately, particularly when discussions involve sensitive legal, financial, personnel or contractual matters.

After Johnston publicly took responsibility for the leak, Farkas called a special council meeting over what he described as a potentially serious privacy breach.

The mayor warned that unauthorized disclosure of confidential information could create financial and legal consequences and, depending on what information is exposed, potential safety concerns for city employees.

Johnston rejects the suggestion that his leak exposed sensitive personal information.

Instead, he argues the controversy should be focused on why information involving potentially substantial tax increases was considered confidential at all.

Johnston is now taking that fight beyond Calgary City Hall.

He has asked Alberta’s municipal affairs minister to investigate council’s use of closed-door meetings and is pushing for changes to provincial legislation that would more tightly define what financial and policy discussions municipalities can keep away from public scrutiny.

Johnston says he does not intend to continue leaking confidential documents.

Instead, he says that if council moves behind closed doors in the future to discuss something he believes should be public, he plans to walk out rather than participate.

Rebel News sat down with Johnston to hear his account of what happened inside those confidential meetings, why he chose to release the documents and what he believes Calgary taxpayers could ultimately face when council finalizes its next budget.