Last week, council completed its fall budget adjustment, with the majority of council agreeing on a 6.1% increase. I voted in opposition to the budget.
In a previous budget post, I acknowledged that the city has structural budget issues; if we do not make substantial investments in industrial growth for instance, we will continue to fall behind the region. And that we needed to re-examine some of our operating expenditures in light of a changed fiscal reality.
We will also be getting an Infrastructure Renewal Fund, but starting in 2027. This will take a number of years to wind up, so it will be the mid-2030s before there’s any substantial amount of dollars in it to make a difference. In the meantime, five bridges to downtown will need renewal in the next 7 years.
Of the items in this budget that council passed, nothing will change any of these realities. Property taxes will continue to rise exponentially until we figure this out.
The positive news is that council supported a zero-based budgeting process in the next four-year cycle — and while council has yet to form the process, my hope is that it allows the next council to gain insight on what is currently in the budget and ultimately whether it reflects the needs and demands of Edmonton in 2026. This is a good question to ask. Anecdotally, if I pulled my household budget from 15 years ago and compared it to what it is today, there will be a pretty stark difference in terms of how its allocated and prioritized. And while we might see little difference on a year to year basis, over a longer period of time, the budget stops making sense. This is the value I see in a zero-based budgeting approach. Council will define the process, which includes if there are speakers or how presentations will work.
We need to decide our role in the region — the next council will need to decide if it wants to lead the region, and if not, is there a willingness to explore the question of annexation and amalgamation. If we continue to erode the industrial tax-base, and our share within the region, this question moves further and further from being ours to answer. And it’s an urgent one, as on average, our industrial share has fallen 0.8% per year for the past 15 years.
The infrastructure renewal fund is a great idea, but it is also unlikely to provide any kind of relief in the short term. People are hurting and fearful, and there’s no true end in sight. I appreciate the argument that we need to address these structural budget issues, but doing so in the same breath that we ask the provincial government to backstop our expenses undercuts the sincerity of the argument. Things have certainly changed, but it requires a rethink that goes beyond a meager fiscal framework.
I got an email from ward resident at the end of this week, which I will share excerpts from, which exemplifies how much pressure people are feeling:
“As a resident in your constituency I was shocked to see that my taxes would be going up again this year. Last year’s taxes made a huge jump from July to the end of this December 2024. In fact, starting in January 2024 , my taxes made the jump of $85.00 per month more. And just to let you know, my pension did not make that big jump too. Now city council is scraping the barrel again by raising taxes again…If you haven’t noticed the price of groceries are terrible, not only for me, but for young families too…. So who has gained here? It hasn’t been me. Not the family next door with three little kids. I think it’s time City Council does some reality checks. Don’t stay stored up in the clouds with the rest of our pictures. Because things are not good down here.”
I voted in non-support because I receive hundreds of emails like this every year, and people are hurting and afraid. And they need to know that someone out there is on their side.
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