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Edmonton city council has approved the capital and operating budgets with property tax increases sitting around five per cent.
Following a week of lengthy debates, councillors wrapped debates on changes pitched for the draft 2023-2026 capital and operating budgets recommended by city staff late Thursday evening. Votes on the budgets passed Friday morning, passing 9-4 for capital and 8-5 for operating.
2023-2026 capital budget: $7.9 billion.
2023 operating budget: tax-levy spending of $3.3 billion, revenues of $3.3 billion
2024 operating budget: tax-levy spending of $3.3 billion, revenues of $3.3 billion
2025 operating budget: tax-levy spending of $3.5 billion, revenues of $3.5 billion
2026 operating budget: tax-levy spending of $3.6 billion, revenues of $3.6 billion
Eight council members voted in favour of the capital budget: Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and councillors Erin Rutherford, Jo-Anne Wright, Michael Janz, Ashley Salvador, Andrew Knack, Anne Stevenson, Aaron Paquette and Keren Tang supported the capital budget.
Votes for the operating budget were the same, apart from Knack who opposed it.
Coun. Tim Cartmell expressed his displeasure about this in his opening remarks before the vote. He contested the framing of the issue by some council members that regional transit already exists because a completely coordinated system doesn’t exist.
This decision, he said, will impact Edmonton’s relationship with the surrounding municipalities, he said.
“Make no mistake, trust has been lost … We have lost the trust of the collective communities around us,” Cartmell said.
Coun. Andrew Knack also said he struggled with his “no” vote because of the regional transit decision.
He was also frustrated that business groups like the Urban Development Institute and the Chamber of Commerce “sounded the alarm” about the budget rates before council had finished adjusting the operating budget.
“Their comments were completely unfair and not reflective of the hard work this council did,” he said.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he was supporting the budget and is proud of the collaboration between council members, work from city administration, and other Edmontonians who participated in the process.
He also pushed back against councillors questioning the repercussions of pulling out of the EMRTC.
“I want to take exception that us pulling from the regional commission is going to damage our relationship,” Sohi told council.
“We have always supported a regional transit system, and we will continue to support a regional transit system, what we have decided is not to support a new governance model … What I reject is a bloated bureaucratic system”
Source: EdmontonJournal
