Breaking down the $485 million Edmonton covers for Alberta

You are covering $485 million a year in costs the province dropped on Edmontonians. 

City Council works to keep it off your final bill. Here's what that looks like:

Start with homelessness.

Housing, addiction care, prevention, and mental health care are ALL provincial responsibilities. When those responsibilities are not fulfilled, the costs land on the City.

Total cost of homelessness to the city: from $91.5 million to $95 million per year.

The property tax implication of that cost: about 4 to 5 percent. This is an annual cost.

Think about that. If this was off our books, the tax increase would have been about 2.9% instead of 6.9% in 2026. 

Now let’s look at infrastructure funding.

In 2011/2012, Alberta provided municipalities with $585 per person in unconstrained infrastructure funding (inflation adjusted). By 2026, that had fallen to about $165 per capita. For Edmonton, this drop represents a loss of roughly $350 – 400 million per year. In 2026, this loss is a little over $400 million.

A note on what unconstrained funding actually is (because it matters): This is not money for shiny, new projects. The province still announces those – a new interchange, a new building, a photo-op with a bunch of shovels – that’s the showhorse part of the government. Heck, I’ve got a few photos like that myself. It’s a direct way to show public money at work. But the thing is, those projects are table stakes and any government can cut a ribbon.

Unconstrained funding, on the other hand, is for the work that never gets a ribbon: replacing asphalt, rehabilitating bridges, renewing communities, keeping fire halls and recreation centres in good repair. That’s the everyday workhorse stuff that a city runs on. It’s not noticed unless it’s absent, and the effort is largely unsung. There aren’t a lot of photo ops for road resurfacing. THAT is the funding that collapsed.

The property tax implication of that unconstrained infrastructure funding cut is 17.54% (what it would take to replace $400 million through your property taxes).

The property tax impact of just those two figures on the City budget: ~23% 

Cost of homelessness to the City: 4 - 5%

Unconstrained infrastructure funding cuts: 17.54%

Again, the City property tax increase for 2026 was 6.9%

That's a 16% difference!

Shocked yet?

Well, check out these other provincial cuts and cost downloads:

Photo radar cuts: ~$25 million

Police body cams: ~$8 – 10 million

EMS Fire Service response costs: $28 million

Smaller cut of ticket fines: $7 – 8 million

DNA testing fees: $5 million

Total of these items: ~$74.5 million

That's a property tax implication of 3.27%

So our running total now is:

26.27%

That is the provincial impact on our 2026 budget.

If the province restored that funding and took back those costs in 2026, we would not be talking about a 6.9% increase. We would be talking about a tax CUT of roughly 19% for the same 2026 budget.

On top of that, the education tax we must collect for the province on your property tax bill went up another 1.9% this year.

So the total provincial impact for Edmontonians is 28.17%

Again, it must be reiterated: the CITY COUNCIL final budget growth was 6.9%

That means we absorbed 21.27% in our budgeting. And we have been doing those kinds of numbers EVERY YEAR.

In real dollars, that equals about $485 million every year. That is the number at the top of this post. Now you know where it comes from.

So when people say Council is spending frivolously, I don't get that.

Are there things to criticize? Of course, that’s a mainstay of keeping governments responsible. But in this area, the math is extremely clear and extremely stark.

Do you see why we have an infrastructure deficit of well over $1.5 billion and growing?

If we did not adjust to these pressures, every year would see a tax rate in the 20% plus range. 

As it is, City Council is suggesting a 0.5% property tax allocation each year to address that infrastructure deficit and some folks think that’s over the top. I get it. I do. You and I shouldn’t even be in this impossible position. But I hope this explainer helps contextualize this challenge.

Our City has been working overtime in finding efficiencies, cuts, savings, and so on, in order to keep delivering core services.

Our entire property tax collection in 2026 is about $2.5 billion. The operating budget itself is $4.6 billion. Property taxes cover just over half of what it takes to run this city. The rest comes from user fees, smart investment earnings, and the limited tools municipalities have. And the budget is balanced every year, as the law requires.

One more thing, because the timing is hard to ignore.

This week the provincial Minister of Transportation was in Edmonton to talk about bike lanes, and the province launched a portal for residents to file complaints about them. I understand the emotion around bike lanes. It is real and I do not dismiss it.

But look at the priorities. The province built a complaint portal for bike lanes it did not contribute a dollar towards. There is no portal for the $400 million a year in infrastructure funding they cut. There is no portal for the $95 million in homelessness costs sitting on our books because provincial responsibilities went unfunded. Those are the things actually driving your tax bill, and they do not get a webform, they do not get a visit, and they certainly do not get a press conference.

They did get municipal elections though, where the majority of Councillors who serve were re-elected. But, shockingly, the democratic voice of your community can be pre-empted on a ministerial whim. Does the province even acknowledge you have a voice and a say in your own city?

Municipalities were designed to be dependent on their province. 

What happens when the province stops valuing you, the people who make the whole system work? When they stop returning your own dollars to your community? They make a worse community, and a worse Alberta.

So the next time you look at your tax bill, remember the very real and proven financial strain the province is dumping on Alberta's municipalities.

The province is supposed to support cities, not punish them.

And who are the cities? Who is being punished?

You.

You and yours.

Our Members of the Legislature can choose a different path, one that honours your home, respects your pocketbook, and understands that you deserve to see your tax dollars at work as you navigate your every day.

It’s never too late. If they have forgotten the sound of your voice, it is always okay to remind them.