St. Albert's tax increase has dropped from a proposed 5.8 per cent increase down to 4.6 per cent, due to Edmonton's decision to pull out of the regional transit commission.
St. Albert city council passed and formally approved the 2023 budget during their last meeting of the year on Dec. 20.
Although the 2023 property tax increase had previously stood at 5.8 per cent, Edmonton's last-minute decision on Dec. 14 to pull out of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission (EMTSC) has paved the way for a 1.2 per cent reduction to St. Albert's tax increase.
St. Albert's share of the EMTSC's budget had required council to add $1.45 million to the 2023 budget, resulting in a 1.2 per cent tax increase, however, responding to Edmonton's vote, council unanimously passed a motion on Dec. 20 that removes the $1.45 million from next year's tax base.
The $1.45 million, although likely not required, will be covered through the city's stabilization reserve if needed. Whether or not the city indeed has to pay the $1.45 million will become clearer in the new year when the future of the EMTSC is known. On Dec. 15, during an EMTSC board meeting, the commission passed a motion to procure services to complete a governance review, but that review won't be complete until after January.
The 4.6 per cent increase means that homeowners with a house valued at $450,000 will pay an additional $167.00 in property taxes next year.
The 2023 budget also includes a 3.8 per cent utility rate increase, a five per cent increase in electrical franchise fees, and a $188-million municipal operating budget.
The utility rate increase will result in an average monthly bill of $144.24 in 2023.
The budget also includes $24,988,500 in spending on 15 capital growth projects. One such project is almost $3.3 million for the construction of a two lane road that will connect Villeneuve Drive to the proposed community amenities site at the corner of Ray Gibbon Drive and Range Road 260. The roadway will be designed next year with construction beginning in 2024, the project charter states.
Next year's budget also includes $1,040,900 designated for 16 municipal growth projects, which include five new full time city staff positions and the conversion of seven temporary staffing positions to permanent positions as of next year.
For utility projects, the 2023 budget includes $41.7 million designated for eight repair, maintenance, replacement (RMR) utility projects. More than half of the $41.7 million is for the continued construction of the new reservoir and pump station that's replacing the Sturgeon Heights reservoir, which was originally built in 1957.
Prior to voting, many councillors thanked city administration for their work, and shared their final thoughts on the budget.
"I think we've had lots of good debates and changes and revisions and back and forth," Coun. Mike Killick said, adding, "we've landed with a good budget."
Coun. Sheena Hughes said this year's budget process was "quite a ride," and although she wished the tax increase would've ended up lower, she was pleased with the final budget.
"It's the best that we could do with the times that we had and with the decisions we made," Hughes said. "I'm going to accept this budget as is — good, bad and ugly."
Coun. Ken MacKay said the budget found a balance between maintaining services, and addressing challenges like inflation.
"This still strikes a balance between maintaining services that are important to our residents, while also addressing the inflationary pressures that are impacting not only municipalities, but every business, every organization," MacKay said.
"I appreciate all the cooperation amongst council to get it to where we are today."
Coun. Natalie Joly said she was slightly disappointed with the budget, as she had hoped council could have provided more funding for community groups, such as the St. Albert Family Resource Centre and the St. Albert Seniors Association.
The final budget also wasn't what Coun. Wes Brodhead said he hoped for, given Edmonton's decision not to move forward with regional transit, but he said he was confident that regional transit may happen eventually.
"What happened in Edmonton was a step back in so many ways for this particular region," Brodhead said. "I am fully convinced that we'll see regional transit around because ... the business case is too strong."
"It's tough coming out of COVID," he said. "All sorts of pressures come to bear on budget."
The budget passed with only Coun. Shelley Biermanski opposed.
"There were several other opportunities that I feel personally that we could have done better in the budget," Biermanski said.
"I respect the vote of everyone, I respect the budget, the work at hand, but I will not support it just because I feel we could have done somewhat better."
Mayor Cathy Heron didn't comment on the budget prior to the vote being held, however, in an email, Heron said "this was a very difficult budget due to so many external pressures."
"Our Council worked extremely hard to come up with an adjustment that balanced the needs of residents in our community and maintained the service levels we all value so much here in St. Albert,” Heron said.
In neighbouring municipalities, the town of Morinville's council approved a property tax increase of 3.5 per cent earlier this month, while Sturgeon County's council approved a 3.9 per cent increase.
Edmonton's city council approved their four-year budget on Dec. 16, which includes a property tax increase of 4.96 per cent in 2023 and 2024, a 4.95 per cent increase in 2025, and a 4.39 per cent increase in 2026.
