After lengthy deliberations, a majority of Edmonton city councillors voted on Tuesday to approve a 6.6 per cent tax increase on properties for next year.
Last month, city administrators recommended a 7.09 per cent tax increase next year, 2.13 percentage points above what was originally approved by city council when it set the four-year budget last December.
The property tax hike was proposed in response to increased costs and reduced revenues, and administrators have said it will cost an additional $41.2 million to maintain services in 2024.
However, the increase approved by city council Tuesday is slightly less than what administrators recommended.
The operating budget amendments approved Tuesday were only opposed by one city councillor: Jennifer Rice.
The capital budget amendments approved Tuesday were only opposed by two councillors: Rice and Karen Principe.
Capital budget adjustments that were approved Tuesday have resulted in a $105 million increase to the capital budget.
“This is an increase to the approved $10.3 billion capital budget of less than one per cent,” the city said in a news release, noting the adjustments included earmarking $15.8 million to buy 20 new diesel buses, $22.9 million for affordable housing projects and $15.3 million for critical renewal investments for things like cellular service in LRT tunnels and police equipment.
The property tax levy increase for 2025 will be 5.3 per cent, and 4.7 per cent in 2026.
“The budget adjustments will maintain most city services at current levels,” the city said, noting the city delivers about 70 services to Edmontonians, including the maintenance of roads, bridges, pathways and transit, the delivery of emergency services and attractions, recreation centres, sports fields and parks.
City council also approved over $16 million in increases to services, including operating the new Metro Line LRT to the new NAIT Station, adding more bus service hours, further responding to the issue of homelessness, expanding library service at the Heritage Valley branch and advancing work on Edmonton’s anti-racism strategy.
“Council approved a number of changes to reduce the tax increase, including leveraging an $8 million increase in the EPCOR dividend and finding another $9 million in savings and efficiencies,” the city said.
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After the increase was approved, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi spoke to reporters about the tax hike and why council believes it was necessary.
“For almost a decade, previous councils have not invested in public services to keep up with population growth and to keep up with pressures of inflation,” he said.
“And we’re at a point where tax increases that are never easy to accept and easy to approve for council, need to match in a way that we’re investing or reinvesting in those core services that have been reduced.”
City council began discussing proposed budget amendments on Nov. 21.
When city administrators first recommended a seven per cent tax increase in October, they said the City of Edmonton is facing a situation where it has “limited resources.”
“And we know that many Edmontonians are also stretched thin,” Stacey Padbury, Edmonton’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager, said at the time.
“We are only recommending budget adjustments that are necessary to maintain our services and deliver critical capital projects.”
Sohi added that this month’s budget adjustment discussion has been “by far the toughest one I’ve been a part of.”
Among the rising costs mentioned by administrators were higher utility prices and a higher-than-projected arbitrated salary settlement for Edmonton police officers.
“The tax levy increase will affect property owners differently, depending how their property’s assessed value compares to the market,” the city said. “An average Edmonton household would pay about $747 in property taxes for every $100,000 of their assessed home value in 2024, an increase of $45 compared to 2023. This equates to $8.71 per day.”
Property owners will learn about their 2024 assessment in January and will receive their 2024 tax notice in May.
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