A five point plan for budget...

The proposed Edmonton City Budget will be released on Monday (November 2nd, 2026) via edmonton.ca/budget

As City Council heads towards our budget debates later this fall, we get another opportunity to show how serious we are about our economic resilience and our commitment to keeping taxes reasonable while we serve Edmontonians. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’m happy to share my plan to keep Edmonton on a sound fiscal path.

That’s why I’m proposing a five point plan to keep Edmonton’s budget on track:

1. Roll back the subsidy on suburban growth: City analysis shows that new suburban growth has been significantly subsidized by existing taxpayers, and especially businesses. It’s time to use different tools to fairly allocate the costs of growth such as rec centres, fire stations and key roadways without deeply impacting housing affordability.
2. Secure a new long-term funding deal with the province: Provincial infrastructure grants have been slashed while our city keeps growing. Edmonton’s growth is pivotal to our region and our province’s economy. We need a new deal with the province to cover key infrastructure costs while lessening the property tax burden on Edmontonians.
3. Make cuts where services are no longer relevant or effective: Our Program and Service Review is carefully analyzing every City service and program for its efficiency and effectiveness. Following through on the review’s findings will mean tough decisions for Council on facilities and services.
4. Protect the investments we’ve made in our core infrastructure: In the 1990s we didn’t invest in our roads and sewers – and our city fell behind. We must continue with our support of neighbourhood renewal, investments in Yellowhead Trail and expanding our LRT network to keep Edmonton moving.
5. Limit new spending: There will be many new spending asks for Council to consider. Any new spending must deliver long-term efficiencies and a return on investment for Edmonton taxpayers.

Sound familiar? The above message was not written by me, but by then Mayor Don Iveson for budget 2018.

I share it to highlight that almost 10 years later as a city, are still stuck on the same proverbial video game level fighting the same quests: Provincial downloading, curb sprawl, renewal.

Sadly, the sprawl has only worsened, adding 4000km, 1/3 of all our new roads in the last decade. Suburban developer lobbyists are celebrating that they successfully lobbied the provincial government to ensure more costs for public infrastructure and services in new developments are covered by the city rather than their profit margins.

Provincial funding has only worsened. With cuts to the local government fiscal framework, $100million in unpaid provincial property taxes, the lost of millions to the police budget each year from photo radar, and many other funding reductions backstopped by our property taxes not provincial taxes. That means thousands of dollars less per person, every year.

Then there's the other provincial policy failures causing budget consequences in our jurisdiction: the chinatown prisoner dropoffs, the mishandled healthcare system and countless examples of provincial interference and driving up taxes, insurance, rents, and the cost of living.

So what do we do?

Recommit ourselves to the core message of good city planning outlined by Mayor Iveson in 2018.

• Curb urban sprawl (build in an up not out)
• Fight against provincial cuts, downloading and interference
• Focus on Renewal

If the province fixes healthcare for instance, calls for service for police, fire, and even the additional millions spent at the library on security could be reduced. If the province restores infrastructure funding, we can pay for more repairs to bridges, roads, buses and trains with provincial funding, rather than tax increases.

More to follow after Monday! Let me know your thoughts...

If you watch one youtube video this week, let it be this one from local filmmaker, URBAN MOTION

VIDEO: How the Alberta Govenrment if failing Edmonton and Calgary.

From vetoing local bike lane networks and rolling back photo radar safety zones, to overriding modern infill zoning bylaws and slashing capital infrastructure grants—the relationship between the Alberta provincial government and its two largest cities has reached a breaking point.

Edmonton and Calgary are home to over two million residents and drive the province’s economic engine. Yet, city halls are increasingly finding their local planning decisions, transit priorities, and municipal balance sheets overruled by top-down provincial directives.

In this video, I break down the four critical battlegrounds reshaping Alberta’s urban landscape, why local autonomy is being challenged, and what enforced sprawl and deferred maintenance will ultimately cost taxpayers over the coming decades.