Building plan good for Edmonton, mayor says
Edmonton’s mayor celebrated Thursday’s provincial budget as good for the city given its major investment in local hospitals.
Municipal infrastructure grants held steady, affordable housing dollars edged up and it appears money for public transit will be available when needed, although details are still fuzzy.
“What we’re trying to organize here is an agreement between all three orders of government,” said Mayor Don Iveson, speaking in the legislature rotunda after the budget announcement. “The federal government is the first mover (on public transit). The province is going to stack money on top of that.”
The federal budget is scheduled for March 22. Iveson said solid commitments could allow Edmonton to finish designs this year for the Blatchford LRT extension and the west leg of the LRT, starting to move utility lines in 2018.
Alberta’s 2017-18 budget includes $1.3 billion for green infrastructure from the carbon levy, but that money is not just for public transit. It could cover other municipal infrastructure and school or hospital upgrades.
The budget also contains $120 million over three years for Edmonton’s Valley Line to Mill Woods. In addition, there’s the Alberta Community Transit Fund, announced last year but being rolled out for the first time this year. It’s worth $40 million in 2017-18 and $350 million province-wide over four years.
For affordable housing, the budget includes $49.5 million for the 220-unit Londonderry renewal project, a pilot project intended to figure out how to subsidize affordable housing with regular-priced suites on a higher-density site.
Capital Region Housing’s Greg Dewling said construction on the Londonderry project is starting this summer. “We’re excited they’re actually rolling that out.”
The budget also includes $7 million to renovate Capital Region’s other units, fix leaky roofs, mouldy bathrooms and drafty windows. That’s double the typical investment for the last five years, Dewling said. But the housing corporation still has $185 million in deferred maintenance.
For permanent supportive housing — long-term care required to house chronically homeless — Calgary is getting a new 24-unit project.
Edmonton’s Boyle Street project, which could include that type of housing, got $250,000 for planning last year.
It made it to the unfunded list in this budget, with the province saying it hopes to give the green light when project scope and design is finalized.
Closer to the pocket book, Edmonton residents could again face a stiff increase in the education portion of their property tax this year.
Last year, Edmonton residential property owners were hit with a hefty 8.7 per cent increase in education tax.
This year, the Alberta government is freezing the education property tax rate. But because it’s based on the relative value of real estate, the total tax Edmonton has to pay is going up six per cent.
Calgary will get a freeze and other areas of the province will see education property taxes drop.
Iveson said Edmonton accountants still need to calculate how that will affect business versus residential taxes, and whether overall growth in the city might offset the increase for individual homeowners.