Severe provincial cuts to municipal funding are incoming, and even the most well-prepared municipality is in for a rough ride.
In 2022, municipalities across Alberta will find their main source of capital funding shaved down close to the skin.
In St. Albert, that means buckling in for a downslope that will take our typical capital funding from $18.3 million this year (higher than usual) down to a projected $7.4 million next year. Even factoring in a bump in funding for 2021, this still means that over the course of three years, cities are getting about 25 per cent less funding than they expected.
It's a deep cut at a time when municipalities can ill afford it, and it will undoubtedly force a change in thinking for those municipalities that have not yet embraced regional collaboration.
Thankfully, St. Albert is ahead of the curve in this regard, with established efforts to collaborate regionally to save money. Look no further than the city spearheading the Regional Transit Services Commission (RTSC), which brought eight Edmonton-area municipalities together in an effort to streamline transit services and save money.
The commission was the target of a union protest last Friday outside Edmonton City Hall by workers who feared losing their jobs. The union also cited fears that the commission would actually bring increased costs to municipalities as well as reductions in service.
These are fears we are bound to hear more of as regionalization comes into clearer focus, but can we continue to live in silos and duplicate services? Municipalities must seize sensible opportunities to cost-share and bring down their expenses, and transit is but one example.
Critics of St. Albert's transit system have for years pointed out what they say are low transit levels, sharing anecdotes of watching empty buses travel back and forth across the city. Several municipalities pulled out of the RTSC, including Strathcona County, which didn't want to give up its decision-making power over its transit service and claims it wouldn't have seen service levels increase. There's also the reality that the COVID-19 pandemic initially demolished ridership levels at St. Albert Transit.
Public transit is changing before our eyes. Like other public services, municipalities are tasked with wrapping their collective heads around changing trends in technology. The advent of Uber, electric scooters and the anticipation of self-driving cars will change how we currently view transit. What about waste collection? Solar energy? Water usage and conservation?
Logic dictates we're bound to see more moves like the RTSC in the future as municipalities turn to each other to tackle serious funding shortfalls.
Paul McLaughlin, president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), has already sent up a warning flare, saying provincial funding cuts could force some rural municipalities to grapple with whether they can remain viable. That reality is going to be knocking on the door for more and more municipalities after the provincial cuts kick in.
The world is facing unprecedented financial debt pressures, and to ease taxpayer burden, governments will be pressed to find new ways to deliver services. Prioritizing spending on projects that have the most value to taxpayers will become paramount.
