My Reaction to the Proposed Fall 2023 City Budget Adjustments
Read Mayor Sohi’s media remarks, given on October 26th, 2023, below.
Last year, after much deliberation, Council passed a responsible four-year budget. We invested in services that we know are priorities for Edmontonians like public safety, transit, and snow and ice control. We have also made decisions that further invest in policing, housing, anti-racism and reconciliation initiatives. At the same time, we were mindful that we need to find additional ways to control our spending on non-essential services.
At Council’s direction, Administration has already reduced $60 million from the 2023–2026 budget. Administration is also working to find $240 million of existing resources to reallocate to core services. But this year, we are facing additional challenges when it comes to reviewing the budget that we have set.
People in our city and across Canada have faced rising costs on many of the basic necessities like food, utilities and fuel, mainly due to inflation. I know that this has meant that many of you are relying on affordable public services more than ever. For the City, ongoing high inflation, higher than expected arbitrated wage settlements, increased utility costs, and additional resources for public safety are driving some of these additional pressures.
But despite this, we must continue to keep essential services affordable.
We received a report today that frames the discussion that Council will be having in the coming weeks about our City’s operating and capital budget. It will inform how we can adjust to meet the financial challenges that we are all facing. The recommendations in this report are just a starting point for these discussions.
I can assure you that Council will go through this draft line by line to find savings for taxpayers. These conversations will be thoughtful, and also difficult at times. But I want Edmontonians to be assured that the collective goal of Council and City Administration is always to keep your taxes as low as possible, while protecting the core service levels that you expect and deserve.
Keeping life affordable for Edmontonians remains a top priority and I will work with my Council colleagues to deliver value for every tax dollar.
