My Priorities for Edmonton’s 2023–2026 Budget
This budget is City Council’s biggest opportunity to fund the Edmonton you want to live in.
Following weeks of combing over the 2023–2026 Operating, Capital, Utility, and Carbon Budgets, and hearing from more than 200 speakers at public hearing, I want to tell Edmontonians my thoughts and vision for the next four years.
During the last election, you gave me the mandate to keep taxes affordable and below the rate of inflation. Over the past 5 years, the previous City Council has approved some of the lowest tax increases in the country, including a tax freeze in 2021. While this can help ease short-term cost pressures on taxpayers, it also pushes funding issues into the future.
When municipal tax rates do not keep pace with inflation and population growth, Edmontonians see the effects of our restrained spending through the backlog of renewal projects, higher costs for deferred projects and services getting spread thinner as the city grows.
When I first looked at the proposed budget, I was pleased to see a strong commitment to anti-racism and reconciliation, a commitment to advance TRC recommendations and MMIWG2S+ calls to action. But, I was also disappointed that I did not see an adequate focus on housing, climate change and economic development.
This leaves Council with a very difficult job if we want to see these priorities funded. I want to be very clear with Edmontonians about what I hope to see from the budget as we go through deliberations over the next two weeks.
Housing
Roughly 49,000 Edmonton households (one in seven) pay more than a third of their income to housing. For renters, that number is one in four.
One of the key changes made in the past four years was the City of Edmonton’s Affordable Housing Strategy and The Affordable Housing Investment Program (AHIP) 2019–2022 which provided a pathway to implementing the strategy. This program continues to address the gap in deep and shallow subsidy housing that Edmonton has just started to fill, after nearly 40 years of lacking investment. Thanks to AHIP grants, City Council approved 10 affordable projects and 823 affordable homes spread to every corner of Edmonton in 2022.
For every dollar the City invested in housing, we are able to leverage four dollars from other orders of government, including nearly $200 million in funding from other orders of government and $351 million in equity from providers, resulting in a direct investment of $689 million.
The Budget Pathway: Because of our commitment to building affordable housing over the past four years, the City has surpassed its targets, supporting 2,728 affordable housing units, including 644 supportive housing units. This proposed budget does not include Capital or Operational Funding to keep us on track with our housing goals. But in order to keep making progress, we have to continue to prioritize housing.
I support adequate funding for housing and houselessness supports that our city desperately needs. I hope Council will agree and move to fully fund the Affordable Housing Investment Program capital growth, grant program, and the housing and homelessness operating supports that have been life-changing for hundreds of Edmontonians.
Read more about my thoughts on investments in housing here.
Climate
The risks and costs of climate change increase with every degree of additional warming that our planet faces. A study specific to Edmonton revealed that climate change could cause us direct annual costs, such as damaged infrastructure, of approximately $3.2B by the 2050s, and $7.4B by the 2080s. This research also identified that climate change could cause an additional 22,000 climate-related health episodes in Edmonton annually by the 2050s. But responding to the Climate Emergency is not just about prices, it’s about people.
Edmonton is on the leading edge when it comes to identifying the problem and mapping the way for climate change mitigation and adaptation. This can be seen in our robust strategies and implementation plans like the Community Energy Transition Strategy (2021), Climate Resilient Edmonton: Adaptation Strategy and Action Plan (2018), and Carbon Budget (2022). We have made great plans as a City and have even started implementation, but in order to keep our momentum going, this City Council must fund climate action in this budget.
Last week, a number of Edmontonians spoke at Public Hearing to ask the City to do our part on combating climate change. I was struck by their stories, particularly the stories from many of the youth that presented. This budget has to work for taxpayers today, but it also must adequately fund climate action for the Edmontonians of tomorrow.
The Budget Pathways: I strongly support investing in active transportation infrastructure and public transit to serve Edmontonians looking for a more cost-effective and sustainable option. Investing in equitable modes of transport opens employment options for those who can’t drive, cuts down on traffic congestion, and cuts down on the wear and tear of our existing roads. I hope that Council properly funds the budget packages that support low GHG transport options and investments to electrify our own City vehicles.
We also know that buildings account for 46% of Edmonton’s carbon footprint and reducing their energy consumption is a major pathway to hitting our emission-reduction targets. Greening our buildings means lower utility costs, more comfortable homes, and a strong market for local green jobs. Council needs to add the necessary funds to support building retrofit for City buildings, upgrades, and incentives for homeowners to retrofit their homes.
Economic + Cultural Vibrancy
Edmonton accounts for about a substantial part of Alberta’s GDP, we are home to more than 30,000 businesses, and have world-class tech, health, agriculture, and energy industries. This budget needs to re-enforce that Edmonton is open for business and that we are one of the best places to invest in Canada.
I am particularly interested in capitalizing on our affordable land and highly skilled workforce to gain a larger industrial tax base for the city. Edmonton should be the choice location for companies and startups across the globe. We are starting to see our recent efforts to attract business to our region pay off with the newly announced $1.6B Air Products facility, $40M investment for a new facility for Polykar, Siwin Foods $54M expansion, and the 236% growth of Edmonton’s innovation ecosystem since 2020.
Read more about my thoughts on economic vibrancy for Edmonton here.
The Budget Pathway: The City can set the table for consistent investment both by incentivizing businesses to move here and by creating supports to help them along the way. My goal is to strategically invest in infrastructure projects that will improve connectivity and accessibility to industrial land to make it more plug-and-play for companies looking to expand to Edmonton. This will increase our employment opportunities and industrial tax base.
My goal for this budget is to also demonstrate that Edmonton welcomes innovation. I will make the case to create innovation incentives like the $5M Edge Fund that will support start-ups and small businesses and fill the gap in capital in our local market.
Economic vibrancy is also dependent on a well-funded Arts and Culture sector. We know that investments in tourism, culture, and nonprofits are investments that keep our city welcoming and competitive.
The Budget Pathway: To maintain the vibrancy of our City’s cultural sector, we must support the organizations that are already doing this important work. Even though a smaller funding request in the context of a $3 billion budget doesn’t seem like much, we can’t let funding requests from arts and culture groups fall through the cracks. From ensuring artists have great opportunities, to funding sports, cultural community groups, and festivals, I want to make sure this budget benefits the frontline workers, and organizers in our city’s arts, culture, and tourism industries.
Read more about my thoughts on Arts and Culture as an economic driver here.
Support for Community Groups
While I am pleased to see support for anti-racism and Indigenous reconciliation, we need to do more to support community-based organizations that are serving equity-seeking groups and advancing our goal of building an Edmonton for all of us.
The Budget Pathways
Council Heard from many groups who depend on contributions from the City to bring their programming, events, support, and experience to our community. I hope my council colleagues will support me in providing funding to these groups to support the work they are already doing.
I encourage Edmontonians to continue writing to my office and to your City Councillor as we go through the budget process over the next two weeks. I deeply value the opinions of Edmontonians and will work to ensure this 4-year budget fully funds an Edmonton for all of us.
