EDMONTON, Alta. — If Alberta municipalities get their way, they will soon have the authority to raise existing taxes and create new ones, including those on diesel fuel.

Talks are under way between Alberta communities and the province, which may allow the municipalities to raise fuel taxes by about two cents per litre. Other methods of taxation could also be implemented.

“It’s on the table,” admits Municipal Affairs Minister, Guy Boutilier. “If cities want to look at greater taxing authority, i.e. through a cent or two cent a litre fuel tax, that would be one option that would be considered.”

A second round of talks are slated for next month, involving the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties.

Calls for a change came after the latest provincial budget, which originally reduced the municipal portion of fuel taxes from fives cents per litre to 1.2 cents. That was restored after public outrage in Calgary and Edmonton. However, it’s left a bitter taste in the mouths of municipalities who are more insistent then ever that they have more control over taxation.