Budget 2022
On December 17th, 2021 Edmonton City Council approved the 2022 Operating and Capital Budget. The approved change to the Operating Budget is a 1.91% increase.
This is the third lowest increase in 25 years and is below the rate of inflation.
The impact to the average household , which is a home assessed at $380,500, will be a $70 increase for the year. I’ll take the rest of this post to highlight a number of the changes that make up the approximately $70 increase and why I supported the budget. To start, I’ll highlight some of the key areas included in this budget:
0.3% goes to the Alley Renewal Program.
0.1% goes to fund the debt servicing costs for the Valley Line LRT.
0.7% was originally going to go to the Edmonton Police Service but was redirected to other community safety and wellness priorities. I’ll cover this topic in greater detail later in the post.
0.81% covers inflationary impacts and emerging issues. I’ll highlight a few of these items later in the post as well.
As Alley Renewal was a campaign commitment I made back in 2013, this is something that is desperately needed across the city. The program started in 2019 and needs to continue. I’m happy to see this program continue and we may even need to consider ramping this up in future years to address more alleys in more quickly.
The same goes for the Valley Line LRT which is a critical project for the west end and the future of Edmonton.
Policing
There was a long conversation specifically about the budget for the Edmonton Police Service and I want to spend some time explaining what happened and how I voted. Going into 2022, EPS was originally budgeted to receive an increase of $11.9 million. There were three separate motions that were made and the way our process works is that we vote on them in order of highest impact to lowest impact.
The motion that was approved will provide EPS with a $1 million increase in 2022. I did not support that motion. I was prepared to support a motion that would have provided the $11.9 million increase in 2022 and then bring the budget back down to the 2021 level starting in 2023.
The reason I would have preferred that approach dealt with the timing of other work underway. We are currently in the process of developing a prioritized list of community safety and community wellness programs/services that will be presented to council by May 2022. At that point, we can then start deploying the funding identified above. Being that the plan is not ready yet, I struggle with the idea of the budget changing at the beginning of the year.
While I had some concerns with the motion that passed, I completely support the need for the City to invest in more preventative programs and services. I’ve been working to move the city in that direction for the last 8 years because I know it’s financially unsustainable to only fund reactive services. I also understand that there are many residents who are uneasy about any shift in funding to policing.
I want to provide those who have concerns with some assurances that this shift has even been identified by the EPS Chief. He has publicly stated that we can’t keep doing the same things as we have done over the past 20 years for the next 20 years. I agree. Think about this the way we think about our healthcare system. One of the worst things we can do is only fund the programs and services that address an issue after it has become a problem. It’s far better to fund proactive programs that support safety and wellness. An example of that is the Free Play for Kids program that I speak about further in this blog post.
We know there are better ways to deploy services to deal with the wide range of challenges that exist in our city. The best way to ensure that we can properly address these challenges is by working together as a community and clearly communicating with each other about how different actions will produce the intended outcomes that we all share.
How Do We Compare?
While I don’t think we should be comparing ourselves to other cities all the time, we did have an opportunity to gather some data about how much other cities are increasing their tax levy by in 2022:
Vancouver: 6.35%
Calgary: 3.87%
Winnipeg: 2.33%
Regina: 3.49%
Ottawa: 3.0%
St. Albert: 2.8% (vote on final budget is on Dec 22)
Strathcona: 3.11%
Leduc: 2.0%
Spruce Grove: 3.9%
I share this to provide some context at a time when every household, business, and order of government are struggling to address very challenging economic times. I’ve been very pleased with how the City of Edmonton has navigated the past few years.
For example, in 2019, we approved the lowest increase in a decade at 2.6%. In 2020, we approved the lowest increase in 23 years at 1.3%. This year was the first time in 24 years that there was no increase in our budget.
As mentioned above, 2022’s increase of 1.91% is the third lowest increase in 25 years. This has been a very positive trend that recognizes the economic realities that people have been experiencing while ensuring we continue to invest in critical core services.
During the Budget Public Hearing we heard from the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce who stated that the originally planned 1.8% increase was reasonable. It’s encouraging to hear that feedback from an organization that represents so many businesses in our community. While we finished slightly above the planned increase, I think it’s safe to say that adding an extra 0.11% to the 2022 increase is not unreasonable when we consider what was approved. I’ll cover those specific items below.
Why I Supported the Budget
During this campaign, I spoke about my desire to strive for no increase in 2022. One of the key ways I thought we could achieve this goal was through a further reduction in middle management. We received a presentation that suggested while middle management was continuing to be reduced, I did not receive a clear understanding of the savings that work would produce.
I would like to explore this further and will be developing a motion that I can make in the new year to better understand how the recommendation in the middle management audit is being implemented and the specific results of making those changes.
Along with the information in the How We Compare section above, there are a few other reasons I chose to support the budget.
A significant reason I chose to support the Capital and Operating Budgets was due to the different projects that would fall within the 0.81%. This includes major projects in the west end which include the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre and Library, the Coronation Rec Centre, and the final stage of the Valley Zoo upgrades.
I won’t spend additional time on the Lewis Farms project as I’ve written about that many times before and I’ll be writing a separate blog.
The Coronation Rec Centre is huge for residents on the eastern and northern parts of the ward. This rec centre is located right by Peter Hemingway Pool and so it close to residents who live in North Glenora, McQueen, High Park, Mayfield, Canora, Britannia Youngstown, Grovenor, Crestwood, and Glenora. Not unlike the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre, the Coronation Recreation Centre will provide many Edmontonians with more ways to stay active and connected closer to their homes.
The Nature’s Wild Backyard (Phase 2) at the Valley Zoo will also be a wonderful upgrade for all west end residents. The Valley Zoo is the second busiest City attraction and prior to the pandemic, the attendance was growing quite quickly. Even now, the Valley Zoo is very active as it’s a great family attraction. Please visit the link above for more information about Phase 2 of this project.
Beyond the capital projects mentioned above, there are some operating items that I want to highlight as well.
The first is funding for Free Play for Kids. If you haven’t heard about this non-profit, please visit the previous link to learn more about this incredible organization. They have received additional funding to help support more children access free recreation opportunities across Edmonton.
Funding was allocated to help expand our Dogs In Open Spaces Program. During the campaign, I would often hear from residents west of the Henday about a need for off-leash spaces. By funding a dedicated person within the City for this program, they can better support residents who are looking to set up spaces in their community.
This next one may seem more trivial but I heard a lot about it while knocking on doors this campaign. Trimming at City parks has been down the last few years due to COVID. This created situations where even seating areas around different sports fields had overgrown grass and it would impact parents and grandparents who wanted to have a more comfortable experience when watching their children or grandchildren play. An additional trimming cycle will take place to make our City parks more usable.
Council unanimously voted to freeze any transit fare increases for 2022. I’ve written about this before but I couldn’t justify having one of the highest transit fares in Canada. I’m glad that fares will still be more affordable.
Funding to better support the City’s response to encampments was increased. During the campaign, I heard from residents in every community about the encampments that formed. What I appreciated the most was that residents were most worried about how to best help our neighbours experiencing homelessness. Although this is primarily within the jurisdiction of the provincial government, the City can help with this and the additional funding will allow crews to provide more assistance to those experiencing homelessness.
The City Auditor had additional resources added so that they could provide even more value for money in their audits of the City of Edmonton. We have been fortunate to have one of the best audit offices in North America and I am confident that by adding a data scientist to their team, they will be able to produce better results which in turn will create better value for money.
While I could highlight many more programs and services, these are a good example of some of what was approved in this budget. For a full list of everything approved along with the voting breakdown, please visit this link.
Summary
Budgets are always challenging. There will always be more asks than money available. Looking at the list of what was approved this year, I’m comfortable with the balance that was struck. For west end residents, many important projects and services that will improve your quality of life have been approved. The recreation centres and library will provide a long-term benefit to residents and will ensure everyone has the opportunity to stay active and have greater access to knowledge.
I know that even though we are likely to have the lowest increase of all major cities and across the Edmonton region, there are some who would prefer to not have any increase in 2022. Times are challenging. But what I often heard at the doors from those who were more concerned about our costs was that they would be comfortable with an increase as long as they clearly see the value of that money.
This blog post is long but I hope it provides you with the detail necessary to clearly see how your tax dollars will be spent in 2022. We have to continue to be diligent over the coming years because the impact of the pandemic will be around for many years. I look forward to working with each of you to find the right balance between managing our costs and providing services that improve your lives.
