City of Edmonton unveils proposed 4-year budget with higher taxes — but more services - Global News

The tone was set early as city officials unveiled Edmonton‘s proposed capital, operating and climate (previously called “carbon”) budgets for the next four years.

Before providing details that will be debated over the next seven weeks, City of Edmonton chief financial officer Stacey Padbury acknowledged the financial pressures facing the municipality.

“Like all Edmontonians, the City is dealing with economic pressures and rising costs,” Padbury said.

The city said it spent more than a year working on the budget draft.

Administration took into consideration public engagement, direction from city council, analysis of the economy and the city’s financial position and strategic prioritization of services and construction projects.

The result: a proposal that focuses on maintaining the services Edmontonians need, renewing existing infrastructure and completing current construction projects, the city said Monday.

The proposed $4-billion operating budget covers day-to-day expenses such as maintaining roads, pathways and public transit, staff wages, budgets for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services and the Edmonton Police Service, and operating facilities such as rec centres, parks and other city properties.

When it comes to property taxes, the city’s operating budget calls for increases of 4.9 per cent next year, 4.7 per cent in 2028, 4.5 per cent the following year and 3.9 per cent in 2030.

The proposed budget means Edmontonians would pay about $68 per month in property taxes for every $100,000 of their assessed home value in 2027.

That means the average owner of a $500,000 home would pay around $340 a month in property taxes — an increase of about $18 a month.

“I think we projected a 5.6 per cent increase for 2027 originally, and now we’re at 4.9 — so we’re working our way down,” said city manager Eddie Robar.

The proposed budget also calls for more money for police and fire services, along with increases to Edmonton’s snow-clearing budget.

“This time around you’re getting tax increases, you’re also getting service increases alongside these tax increases,” Padbury said.

“But realistically, it’s more expensive to deliver services each year, (so) we do need some adjustment for that in every budget.”

The capital budget covers bigger, longer-term projects and city assets.

The city’s proposed $6.3 billion capital budget includes $3 billion in previously approved projects that are currently under construction, including:

Many of those projects are set to complete during the 2027-30 budget cycle.

The city said the recommended $3.3 billion in new funding prioritizes maintaining existing infrastructure, with $2.3 billion in new renewal projects.

Those include neighbourhood renewal projects, rehabilitating and repaving bridges and major roads that need it most, and replacing old city buses, vehicles and other equipment needed for effective service delivery.

City officials are forecasting Edmonton’s population will grow to two million over the next several years. Establishing a sustainable and manageable pace of growth and construction is key, with the High Level Bridge rehabilitation among the big-ticket items.

“We gotta be careful about how we impact people as they travel through our city which we felt over the last couple of years,” Robar said.

Last week, the city revealed the High Level Bridge from downtown to the southside will be closed for the entire 2027 road construction season, after this past summer’s massive rainfalls worsened riverbank erosion.

The city said because the bridge will already be closed for that repair work, it is moving up planned 2028 rehabilitation a year to do both at the same time.

It’ll be a big disruption to the flow of traffic in and around the middle of the city, which Robar said planners will have to be mindful of.

“High Level is gonna be next year — that’ll be another challenge, we gotta be careful about how much, how quick and when.”

The city said it has expanded and renamed its carbon budget to climate budget, to track emissions and climate adaptation while monitoring progress towards Edmonton’s climate goals.

Utilities budgets, including waste services, Blatchford Renewable Energy and Downtown District Energy, will be released Nov. 12 and presented to the Utility Committee on Nov. 26.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack is expected to weigh in on the proposed budget after he has had a chance to read through it.

Registration is now open for a public hearing on the draft budget scheduled for Nov. 23.

Council will then begin debating the budget, with a plan to have it approved by Dec. 18.