Alberta Municipalities say provincial budget offers no relief for policing, social service costs

File photo of an RCMP detachment in Mayerthorpe, Alta.

A group representing 264 municipalities across the province says the UCP government’s budget does little to substantially address the growing social and physical infrastructural needs it’s outlined.

Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis) released a preliminary report on Friday that calculates provincial property taxes will increase government revenue by $1 billion over three years but offers no “sustainable fiscal planning” for municipal needs.

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President Dylan Bressey said the provincial education levy’s impact on residents of villages, towns and cities will disproportionately affect those with lower incomes.

“The problem with property taxes is they’re a form of taxation that doesn’t go down when people’s or family’s incomes decrease or when businesses struggle,” he said in a media availability Friday afternoon.

“Property taxes are not the right lever to pull if we care about affordability and investment in this province.”

While he appreciated the return of the grants-in-place-of-taxes program and the province’s promise to undertake a review of its fiscal framework, ABmunis policy analysts found the $7 billion promised for municipal infrastructure would ultimately deliver a $150-million bump this year for roads, sidewalks, transit and water systems across all municipalities.

A group representing rural municipalities said its communities are facing a cumulative $25-billion rural infrastructure funding deficit by the end of 2026.

“Overall, provincial funding is still hundreds of millions of dollars lower than historical levels, particularly at a time when Alberta has grown by a million people over the last decade and inflation is increasing costs of workers, asphalt and pipes,” the report reads.

ABmunis also noted that funding for the province’s Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), which funds certain social programs in partnership with municipalities, remained flat.

“By not investing in locally driven prevention programming, the province is missing a critical opportunity to reduce costs on already stretched systems such as health care, emergency services and policing,” the report said.

Policing is noted by ABmunis as one of the single largest expenditures for municipalities. Bressey said Budget 2026 did little to assuage public safety costs.

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Prior to tabling the budget Thursday, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner told reporters municipalities would not get what they asked for as revenues declined in the province.

“Everybody’s going to have to be reasonable, or equally disappointed,” he said. “We’re trying to spread it around where it’ll make the most impact. The infrastructure needs of the province are very, very dramatic.”

Bressey says his group is now hoping to have conversations with the province about how to “reimagine” property taxes, and is asking for incremental increases to spending to address its service needs.

“We know at the end of the day, if we’re asking for increased investment infrastructure, that does mean that we are asking Albertans to pay more today,” Bressey said.

“But this investment is critical if we don’t want to see even higher increased costs in the future, and if we want to be able to continue supporting a diversified economy.”