Edmonton city council looking for ways to lower tax increase as budget deliberations heat up

Budget debate is in full swing at Edmonton city hall as the final set of deliberations began Monday.

City councillors discussed how to lower the proposed tax increase of 8.1 per cent for 2025 but also the bigger picture of the city's finances.

Councillors are looking at spending reductions and revenue increases to tackle budget challenges the city says stem from inflationary pressures and rapid population growth.

"We can't keep going back to property taxes. That is not a model that provides services, safety, security for everyone," Coun. Michael Janz told media. 

"It's an outdated model. It should be a part of it, but it can't be the only part and we need real help from the province and the feds." 

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi referenced a proposed plan aiming to lower the property tax increase to six per cent, that he posted on social media last week. Among the plan's priorities is a focus on affordability and core services. 

"We put more money into public safety and well-being, put more money into public transit. We put more money into snow and ice control. We were opening the libraries on Sundays that were not open before," he said. 

"So we have invested back in those core services, and I want to focus on protecting those at the same time reducing expenditures."

Sohi said an overhaul of the budget is needed as council only has a short window to debate. 

"It is not a sufficient amount of time. I think we need to do is go back to what we what we used to do in 2008-2009 when we actually did a line by line analysis of every department leading up to the final budget."

Watch | What do councillors think of the 8.1 per cent increase?

Coun. Tim Cartmell said every dollar counts for the average Edmontonian. 

"Even if 8.1 goes to 6.6 or 5.6 [per cent] that is still roughly 30 per cent in three years," said Cartmell.

The city says it is experiencing funding shortfalls in multiple key areas.