Infrastructure funds fall well short: Alberta Municipalities

2024 budget doesn't cover inflation or needs of growing population: analysts

A preliminary analysis of the government's 2024 budget by Alberta Municipalities said it lacks adequate infrastructure funding for municipalities to support the province's growing population.

Senior policy analysts with Alberta Municipalities said infrastructure funding for municipalities has been static for the last four years at a briefing for reporters on Friday.

Alberta's 2024 budget released Thursday promised $724 million through the Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF) to go toward funding local infrastructure initiatives.

The government would provide a total of $2.4 billion over three years, but analysts said the number is nowhere near enough.

Tyler Gandam, president of Alberta Municipalities, told reporters on Friday the price tag their members were looking for was $1.75 billion for 2024, over $1 billion more than what was promised.

“(The $1.75 billion), that's just a start on where we need to begin working on the infrastructure in each of our municipalities. Like I said, we've got a $30-billion infrastructure deficit across the province,” Gandam said.

“It's either coming from the province, we're getting support from the federal government or we continue to raise property taxes at home, or we're watching our infrastructure crumble — sidewalks, roads, underground infrastructure, water and waste water, all of the things that municipalities need to maintain the current residents, let alone the growth that we're seeing across the province.”

Senior policy analysts said municipalities are under serious pressure to build new homes for current residents and for the growing population, paired with the average cost of repairing infrastructure going up by about 28 per cent — funding is more important than ever.

Alberta Municipalities said while they endorse Premier Danielle Smith's vision in the strategic plan which would allow Albertans to live and work in safe communities while offering leading services, they questioned why the provincial investment in municipal infrastructure seemed detached from population growth and inflation.

Analysts raised concerns about how this will further put the tax burden onto municipal government and property taxpayers in order to maintain existing and new infrastructure. Or it will potentially lower the quality of roads, sidewalks, recreation centres and other necessities.

Edmonton, as one of Alberta's two largest cities, is being promised various infrastructure funding, including $158 million through the LGFF as well as $955 million split between Edmonton and Calgary to improve roadways, including upgrades to streets, highways and the addition of pedestrian lanes.

The city will also see $887 million over three years to go toward LRT projects.

On Thursday, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi told reporters he is looking forward to more details on the budget, and said aspects such as investment into public safety, housing and shelters, and addiction recovery, are steps in the right direction.

While Sohi said what was announced on Thursday was more than the previous budget, it is not enough.

“It's not enough to match the population growth and the explosion of the growth that we have experienced in other municipalities,” Sohi said.