Introduction to the 4-year cycle - Budget Blogs Part 2
The budget is the City’s plan for where it will get money (revenues) and how it will spend it (expenditures) in alignment with our long-term vision.
The City budgets in 4-year cycles, with the upcoming cycle running from 2023-2026. This budget will be approved in December. Building a 4-year budget makes it easier to plan stable programs and services, and move our plans forward to build and maintain things like LRT, recreation centres and roads.
The budget is reviewed and adjusted each year, as needed.
The budget has 4 parts: the operating budget and the capital budget. There are also separate budgets for public utilities: Waste Services and the Blatchford Renewable Energy Utility.
And for the first time this year we will be presenting a Carbon Budget for information.
Capital Budget
The capital budget is for the things the City builds and the money the city uses for building and maintaining infrastructure. Examples include:
Roads and pathways
Bridges
LRT expansion
Recreation Centre
Neighbourhood and Alley Renewal
Operating Budget
The operating budget reflects the estimated cost for the City to provide programs and services, and the way in which those costs will be paid for, including property taxes and user fees.
Examples of these programs and services are:
Maintaining the roads and public transit systems that move people
Police, bylaws and fire rescue services to keep people safe
Attractions, leisure activities, parks and social programs that make Edmonton a great place to live, work and visit
Carbon Budget
For the first time, council will also be presented with a carbon budget. The carbon budget will give a holistic view of the carbon impacts of requests in the 2023-2026 budgets so that Council can weigh climate change impacts when making decisions about the City’s budget.
All budget requests (capital profiles and operating service packages) have been assessed for both qualitative carbon impacts and more detailed quantitative carbon impacts where possible. The qualitative assessment links direct emissions impacts to the four pathways in the Energy Transition Strategy and indicates indirect emissions impacts. Indirect emissions impacts would not have a direct impact on the pathways rather they would enable other work that either increases or decreases emissions. For example, for facilities that are built to support transit, the enabling impact will be transportation system usage, the direct impact would be related to the building’s energy use and any land use impacts.
Blatchford Utility Budget and Rate Filing
Blatchford Renewable Energy operates as a municipally owned utility.
Blatchford Renewable Energy owns and operates the Blatchford community’s District Energy Sharing System (DESS). This system will provide heating, cooling and hot water services to Blatchford residents and businesses.
Waste Services Utility Budget and Rate Filing
Waste Services is a public utility.
Residential waste services are funded by monthly utility rates, not property taxes.
Waste Services is governed by the Utility Committee. An independent Utility Advisor provides oversight. The Utility operates under Council-approved fiscal policy.
Examples of these waste services are:
Garbage collection
Blue bag and blue bin recycling
Recycling depots
Reuse Centre
Eco stations
Big Bin events
Assisted waste collection
