Now is the time to invest in Alberta’s communities
By Lethbridge Herald on February 17, 2025.
Alberta Municipalities President Tyler Gandam & Board Of Directors –
As the Government of Alberta prepares to introduce Budget 2025 on February 27, Premier Danielle Smith & Finance Minister Nate Horner have been saying that Albertans face numerous economic and social challenges in the foreseeable future.
Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis), the association representing 260 municipalities of all sizes across the province, agrees with their assessment and believes the solution cannot simply be further financial belt tightening on the part of municipalities and regular Albertans. The financial belt is already unbearably tight, especially as Alberta’s population continues to grow by upwards of 200,000 people a year. A different approach is needed.
There is no time like the present to invest in our province’s future. For starters, municipalities need more provincial funding for local infrastructure, and they need it now. Municipal infrastructure is largely funded by the province’s Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF) Capital program and its current level of funding is unable to address Alberta’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deficit. There simply isn’t enough base funding for all your community’s capital projects.
Without more provincial funding for local infrastructure, municipal councils will face one of two difficult choices – either significantly increase property taxes, or delay the building and replacement of community roads, water and wastewater systems, recreation centres, and other facilities that Albertans use each day.
Alberta Municipalities also wants to see the provincial government pay its fair share of municipal property taxes. The provincial government allocates Grants in Place of Taxes (GIPOT) to municipalities in return for services provided to provincial facilities, including road maintenance, snow clearing and fire services – the same municipal services you pay for with your property taxes.
Since 2019, the Government of Alberta has only paid municipalities about half the amount of GIPOT it owes. While this has allowed the provincial government to save tens of millions of dollars over the past five years, affected municipalities have continued delivering the necessary services to the detriment of other programs and services their residents need, want and deserve. We call on the provincial government to restore GIPOT funding to cover the full cost of municipal services to provincial facilities. It’s a matter of fairness.
Municipalities rely on provincial funding to deliver Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) in communities of all sizes across Alberta. Our province’s most vulnerable populations consider these programs vitally important. When vulnerable Albertans are unable to get the programs and services they need in their home communities, many people end up unhoused, unemployed, unhealthy, and disconnected from their families, friends and personal networks. We are asking the provincial government to increase FCSS funding. Every dollar invested in FCSS saves a significant amount of money on future spending on justice, homelessness, addictions and health care. Where FCSS is concerned, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure.
Alberta Municipalities shares the provincial government’s desire to make Alberta the best province in Canada in which to work and live. On February 27, we encourage the provincial government to increase funding for municipalities so we can get closer to turning our shared vision into a reality.
Alberta Municipalities advocates for municipal interests, serving over 300 of Alberta’s 334 municipalities, working with elected and administrative leaders of Alberta’s municipalities to advocate for solutions to municipal issues.
11-10
Where’s My Money?
The news headline read,
“Edmonton, other municipalities ask province to pay its property taxes”. That was September of last year.”
Below are quotes pulled from the Alberta Municipalities response to the 2024 provincial budget (March 01, 2024).
“The Government of Alberta has been “double downloading” costs onto municipalities.”
“By underfunding municipal infrastructure investments and increasing government revenues from its education property tax, they are burdening property owners twice over.”
“This continues the trend of inadequate provincial investments in community infrastructure being hundreds of millions of dollars below historical levels. When you consider changes in population and inflation, the situation for municipalities is even worse.”
I took the following quote from the Alberta Government website, Sept 2022 related to the Alberta Municipal property assessment – Unpaid oil and gas property taxes, Key Findings to validate the trend that is referenced above.
“A cumulative $220 million in unpaid taxes has been reported by municipalities, with $130 million in tax arrears and the remaining $90 million in cancellations.
The majority of these taxes will not be recoverable outside insolvency proceedings because they are owned by companies no longer operating, or because the taxes have already been written off by municipalities, or both.”
The most recent tax share hit to municipalities, at least in Calgary, is around $30 million for policing.
My guess is it is being used to fund the start-up costs for the expanding the provincial police force that 85% Albertan’s do not support. Robbing Peter to pay Paul sort of scenario.
I am eager to see the 2025 budget and the spending priority’s the UCP will table on our behalf.
I hope it will tell us where our money is.
The record profits the oil and gas sector is about to earn through the Trans Mountain Pipeline System should boost provincial revenues one would think (increased capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 bpd).
The Federal Investment in the pipline is already paying dividends judging by the Enbridge website headline that reads: Enbridge Reports Record 2024 Financial Results.
As odd as it sounds I sure hope we can pay ourselves the back taxes we owe ourselves.
Well presented. This is, after all, the Tax & Squander UCP we are talking about.