Edmonton city council started the public hearing for the fall budget adjustment on Thursday. The mayor’s goal is to reach a zero per cent tax increase for 2021.
There will be some one-time budget restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to have a zero per cent tax increase, council must find about $56.6 million in savings.
Ongoing, permanent reductions of the base budget unrelated to COVID-19 include:
- Service level reductions ($13.2 million)
- Funding to partners ($6.4 million)
- Facility closures ($1.4 million)
- Expense reductions ($6.4 million)
- Efficiencies ($9.7 million)
- Workforce strategies ($18.2 million)
- Increased revenue/recovery ($1.2 million)
“My goal throughout this budget discussion will be to find efficiencies while ensuring the city is providing our communities with what we need to weather this pandemic, like maintaining critical infrastructure and services that keep Edmontonians safe,” Mayor Don Iveson said.
He said council and administration have heard a lot of reaction to potential changes to the civic recreation centres and the spay and neuter program.
“We’re certainly hearing loud and clear… about concerns with cuts to things like spay and neuter,” he said Thursday.
Iveson said he thinks council will be able to find the $100,000 to save the animal program somewhere.
City-run recreation centres “have generally run at a loss from a taxpayer perspective,” Iveson explained. Partly, because the city chooses to subsidize access and programming for low-income residents due to the overall health benefits they offer.
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The pandemic has meant they’ve attracted fewer people, but that challenge is secondary. Post-pandemic, Iveson believes there will be a renewed “pent-up” demand to use these facilities, which has led to broader conversations about making rec centres as efficient as possible.
“Fundamentally, these facilities — at least two of them — need to be replaced,” the mayor said.
“I think we should help them limp along — as long as it’s not too costly — until we can get them replaced.”
Then, Iveson said the city can look at whether it makes sense to close some of the older centres or maybe combine several smaller facilities into one larger one.
Especially with sites like the Rollie Miles and Oliver rec centres, the city could consider whether “long-term, the creation of multi-purpose, smaller-scale rec centres is the way to go.”
Iveson said the city could explore ways the venues can help pay for themselves better over time and attract more users, while also being more energy efficient than the old buildings.
“Those facilities are much less in demand now and will only see new demand if they’re refreshed and revitalized.”
Proposed facility closures and savings include:
- Eastglen Pool
- Scona Pool
- Oliver Outdoor Pool
- Oliver Arena
- Tipton Arena
- Asphalt Plant
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The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce thanked the city for its attention to business owners and the challenges they face.
“The city must continue its commitment to a zero per cent tax increase,” said Janet Riopel, president and CEO of the chamber. “We know this is a difficult decision.
“Job creators can ill afford any increases in costs at this time when our unemployment rate is already the highest among major Canadian cities and so many businesses have already closed or are in danger of closing their doors permanently.”
The group said the city has acted on its previous suggestions, including implementing priority-based budgeting, reviewing the city’s debt policy, getting out of the commercial waste collection business, and exploring partnerships to operate recreation centres.
The chamber is also pushing the city to address operational spending, staffing and debt.
“Our entrepreneurs continue to demonstrate incredible flexibility and resiliency — the city should be no different,” Riopel said.
“We need the City of Edmonton to continue to dig deep and find efficiencies and cost savings, just as businesses and families across the Edmonton Metropolitan Region have been forced to do during these challenging times. Business owners and residents simply cannot afford another tax increase right now.”
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