Funding a main topic at the mayor’s annual State of the City

By Lethbridge Herald on January 23, 2026.

Herald photo by JOE MANIO Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen delivers his State of the City address at Excite Lethbridge Thursday as members of the business community, city officials and other organizations in the audience look on.

By Joe Manio

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter- Lethbridge Herald

Mayor Blaine Hyggen used his State of the City address on Thursday to frame the year ahead as one of tough choices, cautious optimism and doing more with less, telling business leaders the city must decide between “needs” and wants.

His address, delivered during a Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce breakfast, was Hyggen’s first since winning another term as mayor. It came as the city faces ongoing budget constraints, public safety concerns, housing demand setting the tone for council’s priorities in 2026.

Speaking to a room of 200-300 business and community leaders over breakfast at Excite Lethbridge, Hyggen struck an earnest but cautiously optimistic tone as he outlined his vision for the months ahead.

One of the several topics the mayor discussed was the state of funding and how it has been changing; saying both the provincial and federal governments have been providing less money to municipalities.

“Everything is costing more and everyone wants to pay less, so of course, anytime you’re building new infrastructure, operating costs come from taxation. A lot [of funding does] come from grants, but a lot of the grants are lowering now,” says Hyggen.

One example was the Alberta Government replacing the Municipal Sustainability Initiative with the Local Government Fiscal Framework in 2024, resulting in a 37 per cent reduction in provincial funding to all municipalities.

This prompted a warning from Hyggen of a “tight” upcoming capital budget; one in which needs would have to be prioritized over wants and will impact which projects in the current Capital Improvement Plan get funded.

“They’re projects that people want to move forward, and they will move forward when funding comes for them. The problem with that is, currently, there’s not that funding,” says Hyggen. “We’re looking at other levels of government for this additional funding so we don’t have to go to the taxpayers for these different ‘wants’ that I’ll say are in our community – a performing arts centre, a third bridge.”

Hyggen says Lethbridge is in great shape overall, and progress has been made on a lot of important issues. Hyggen says public safety is an area in which he is particularly proud; where the crime rate fell by 16 per cent in 2024 while the Crime Severity Index declined by 19 per cent.

Another major success from this past year was the City securing $9.2 million in funding for phase one of “critical upgrades” to the Water Treatment Plant, which on peak days is operating between 90 and 100 percent capacity.

Hyggen reports that the current infrastructure is still in decent shape overall, but with the city’s population continuing to grow, and with major developments planned on the west side, expanding the facility is now more important than ever.

The mayor commended Excite Lethbridge (formerly known as Lethbridge & District Exhibition) for meeting its year-end fiscal goals and for successfully splitting into two new groups, Excite Lethbridge and the Lethbridge & District Agricultural Society.

The mayor also spoke about unexpected challenges, where routine maintenance didn’t go according to plan.

During the summer of 2025, the City launched a bridge maintenance program on Whoop-Up Drive intended to be completed with minimal impact to commuters. That plan went south on Aug. 6 when a flatbed trailer hauling heavy equipment struck the underside of the bridge, damaging four of its six steel girders and causing months of traffic delays.

“Some things are just out of your hands and out of your control, so when that happens, you do (the best) with what you’ve got,” says Hyggen.

He commended the city staff, repair crews and bridge experts (who were summoned from around the world) for their efforts, making the best of a bad situation; also adding that one lesson he learned from the ordeal was the importance of communication and keeping the public updated.

The themes outlined during Hyggen’s address are expected to shape the new term as 2026 gets underway. As the breakfast wrapped up Hyggen told the crowd to be safe and kind to one another.

“We’ll continue our advocacy toward making Lethbridge the best city it can be,” he says.