St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron said one of the more frustrating parts of the Alberta budget this year for municipal officials is the province's increase to the Education Property Tax (EPT) rate.
The EPT requisition for St. Albert will increase by 10.9 per cent, Heron said in an interview on March 3, with that number expected to increase further next year. That number is above the provincial average, which Heron said was 6.25 per cent for residential properties and 6.38 per cent for non-residential properties.
When coupled with the UCP's promise of introducing a new eight per cent income tax bracket for incomes up to $60,000, which is estimated to save Albertans $750 in 2025, Heron said it felt like the province is just shifting money around.
"It's frustrating for a municipally elected person, because who gets blamed for that property tax bill? It's never the provincial government, even though they set the rate and they tell us how much we're supposed to collect. It's going to be the mayor and council who receives all the phone calls and criticism and negativity," Heron said.
Heron said assessments in St. Albert are typically much higher than in other places across the province, and residents will see an increase in their property taxes as a result.
"You might see lower provincial taxes when you're filing your tax returns in April and celebrate that you're paying less provincial taxes, and you're going to give a pat on the back to the provincial government for that," she said. "But you're going to see a heavy increase to your property tax."
She added she would like to see the EPT completely removed and replaced by funding through income tax.
Although the Local Government Fiscal Framework funding increased by $96 million, with St. Albert's allotment for 2025 being bumped up to $9.25 million, Heron said the province was "still behind the eight ball" in terms of infrastructure funding, and in some ways making the situation worse by discontinuing the Local Growth and Sustainability Grant, which was set at $20 million a year over three years.
"They only announced that last year and it was small, but at least it was something," she said.
The early discontinuation of the program is frustrating for her.
"They haven't even announced the first round of successful applicants, and they killed the second and third year," she said. "So they took away infrastructure money from municipalities, which is too bad."
There was also no money allotted for Lakeview Business District, which was a disappointment for Heron, even though she wasn't necessarily surprised.
Heron did say she was pleased to see an increase in funds available through the Affordable Housing Partnership Program, which increased to $157 million in 2025-26 and a target of $204 million in 2026-27. She said this increase will help the city's chances for a successful application through that program for 22 St. Thomas Street, the site of a mixed-use rental building.
"We've done everything we can feasibly do to make this thing attractive to the province for funding," she said. "We've gotten CMHC money from the federal government. So, I'm really crossing my fingers, especially now that they've increased the pot, that we'll be successful in this round of applications."
