Edmonton mayor campaigns province for compensation of services

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The City of Edmonton is asking Edmontonians to write to the Alberta government, demanding that it pay its property taxes.

“We are not asking for a special deal. We’re not asking for a special favour. All we’re asking for, Government of Alberta, please step up to pay your taxes,” said Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sohi announced that the City of Edmonton is launching its Fair Compensation Project. The website is intended to be used as a tool for Edmontonians to get more informed on what Sohi referred to as “several ways that the City of Edmonton is not being fairly compensated for the services we provide” to the Alberta government. The website is the latest attempt by Sohi to draw attention to the money owed to the city by the province.

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“Most people don’t have a choice not to pay their property taxes, but the Alberta government is choosing not to pay their fair share,” said Sohi.

“Provincial buildings get the same quality municipal services that all buildings receive, but (the province) only pays half the cost.”

According to Sohi, since 2019, the province — by paying just 50 per cent of its property tax on its Edmonton buildings — has avoided paying the City of Edmonton $80 million in property taxes. Instead of paying its full share, the Alberta government has opted for its grants in place of taxes program over the past three years.

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Sohi said he would expect full compensation going back to 2019 and to be corrected going forward. He listed several expenses where the recovered $80 million could go, from wiping out the more than $34 million deficit to decreasing the tax increase.

“The one way that the province can help us minimize those tax increases is actually step up and start paying their bill, and start fulfilling their responsibilities in areas that we have to step up. So if they do that, we can significantly minimize the property tax increases,” Sohi said.

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“Do your job in areas that you are responsible for, such as health care, such as mental health, such as addictions recovery. Because all those under-investments are having a direct impact on municipal property taxes, on taxpayers, because we have to fill up the gap.”

Edmonton isn’t alone in the struggle. After meeting with fellow leaders of other municipalities from across the province last week at the Alberta Municipalities convention, Sohi said others are feeling the pinch, adding that “95 per cent of delegates voted urging the province to pay the full cost of accessing municipal services.”

Shortly after Sohi’s announcement, Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) announced the start of its Below the Drill campaign, which addresses provincial policy decisions that it says stripped Alberta municipalities of $332 million in municipal tax revenue.

“By building and maintaining massive road, bridge, and water/wastewater networks, rural municipalities provide the foundation for Alberta’s energy infrastructure, yet we’ve been forced to bear the financial brunt of provincial policy decisions to subsidize the oil and gas sector,” said RMA president Paul McLauchlin.

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“We understand the importance of supporting the industry, but these policies seem to be designed solely to cut costs for oil and gas companies, without consideration of how they may erode the very communities that help drive Alberta’s economy.”

Sohi said it’s particularly poignant in Edmonton because, as the capital, the city has more provincial buildings than elsewhere, making the tax revenue losses more extreme.

The website is intended to provide information to Edmontonians about the relationship between the provincial and municipal finances on a number of subjects, starting with the grants instead of taxes program. Sohi also said the Alberta government pays to maintain Calgary’s highways but doesn’t extend the same courtesy to Edmonton.

“That’s a $17 million ongoing cost that we are paying — maintaining provincial highways in our city,” said Sohi.

He said over the coming weeks and months, more information on other topics will be rolled out and encouraged Edmontonians to take the time to inform themselves using the resources on the site and to contact the Alberta government.

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Postmedia contacted Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver for comment on the city’s new initiative. His press secretary, Heather Jenkins, responded in an email.

“Minister McIver met with mayor Sohi to discuss his funding requests and committed to reviewing grants in place of taxes in Budget 2025 as well as connecting the City of Edmonton with the relevant government departments for specific funding follow-up discussions,” stated Jenkins.

Jenkins also said that under the 2024 budget, the Alberta government “continues to implement the Local Government Fiscal Framework, which includes $337 million over two years for the City of Edmonton.”

She also added that the 2024 budget is supporting the city’s capital projects with $2.2 billion over three years in funding for road, bridge and transit projects, “and an additional $800 million over the next three years for health, school, and government facilities.”

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