Edmonton Journal

Council looks to trim 3.3% tax bump

Mayor, councillor­s vow to look at ways to trim spending — particular­ly for 2019

- PAIGE PARSONS

City council will debate the potential closure of three swimming pools and an arena in central Edmonton neighbourh­oods as it wrangles with a proposed budget that could see property taxes hiked 3.3 per cent in 2019.

A typical homeowner’s property taxes will jump $79 next year if a proposed city budget for day-today operations is approved. The nearly 800-page plan released online Thursday outlines four years of spending that would see tax increases of 3.3 per cent in 2019, 2.7 per cent in 2020, and a two per cent hike in both 2021 and 2022.

That means the owner of a $397,000 house who paid $2,461 in 2018, would pay $2,720 in 2022.

But Mayor Don Iveson and multiple councillor­s are already looking to trim the tax bumps, especially for 2019, eyeing reductions identified in an ongoing review of the city ’s program and services, as well as about $5 million marked for Edmonton police to increase enforcemen­t following cannabis legalizati­on.

“We’re going to make prudent decisions about reductions that really make sense, rather than do political theatre with a machete just for show,” Iveson said Thursday, following the release of what he said is the “hardest” budget he’s seen in a decade.

The jump in tax revenue would cover spending for an increase for general services, pay the city’s portion of the west Valley Line LRT, foot the bill for an alley renewal program, and cover city policing costs based on a new funding formula.

Alongside the proposed budget, the city also released an update on its ongoing, large-scale review of programs and services. Reviews for 20 of 73 of the city’s programs have been completed, and corporate services branch manager Stephanie McCabe said each review takes about eight to 10 months.

Over the last year, administra­tors identified $25 million in savings through reviews, but $10 million of that has to be debated by council because it means closing, fixing or replacing three aging swimming pools — Eastglen, Scona and Oliver, as well as the Oliver arena.

The city’s chief financial officer Todd Burge described the proposed budget as a “starting point,” and he said they expect a lot of debate by council, especially on cannabis funding for policing.

Ward 2 Coun. Bev Esslinger said she thinks the proposed police spending generally might be an option for reductions as council looks for ways to decrease the burden on taxpayers.

“I think we were all hoping for a lower number. That’s what we heard from Edmontonia­ns, and I’m committed to trying to get us there,” Esslinger said Thursday.

For Ward 10 Coun. Michael Walters, he’ll be looking keenly at hiring practices, and what he said he suspects is a habit of hiring as a default fix.

“There’s a whole bunch of sacred cows inside our budget that we need to start addressing, one of them being is that every problem that we identify, it seems our solution is a new (full-time employee),” he said.

The proposed increases do not account for any additional spending council might elect to fund with debt, for high-profile projects that no capital funding is presently set aside for, such as Lewis Farms Community Recreation Centre and Library, or the first stage of upgrades to the Terwillega­r Drive expressway.

“I think an awful lot of those good ideas are going to have to wait until we see what kind of flexibilit­y we might have once we get our infrastruc­ture deal, which we’re making good progress, and once we see where the economy is and other things are at,” Iveson said.

The operating budget, which encompasse­s spending for city services from police and fire to transit and snow removal, will be presented to city council next Wednesday.

The public will be able to have their say at a hearing on Nov. 15, and then on Nov. 28, council will begin to debate both the operationa­l budget and the proposed capital budget, which is for spending on buildings and repairs.

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