Edmonton’s dedicated tax increase aims to address $10B maintenance deficit

Edmonton's city council has a plan to chip away at the city's $10-billion maintenance deficit. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson explains.

City council passed a plan that will help it chip away at Edmonton’s $10-billion maintenance deficit.

The plan includes a new reserve fund that can only be spent on maintaining city infrastructure. Edmontonians will be the ones footing the bill for the fund through small tax increases baked into future budgets.

“It’s something that I often hear about from community members, they want to make sure we’re taking care of all the stuff that we’ve got, and that’s what this fund allows us to do,” said Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador.

Residents will see a property tax increase of 0.5 per cent for the first three years, 0.75 per cent for the following three years, and then one percent every year from 2033 on.

“I do not want to see the increases we say in this four-year budget from 2023 to 2026,” said Mayor Andrew Knack. “Approving this doesn’t put us in a position to have to be higher than those last four years.”

The city approved a 6.9 per cent municipal property tax levy increase for 2026.

Knack said the city has seen success with its neighbourhood and alley renewal programs.

By 2050, city administration estimates that the renewal reserve will be able to cover nearly $1-billion in maintenance costs per year, but that will only account for about a third of Edmonton’s overall renewal needs.

“When we have to go in to do a surprise repair or surprise fix on a piece of infrastructure that is failing, that costs far more than proactively investing in this infrastructure at the outset.

Over the next four-year budget cycle, city council has pledged to keep tax increases low by focusing on maintenance rather than new projects.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson