Edmonton – The City of Edmonton must take a hard look at staffing costs to reach financial sustainability, says Prosperity Edmonton. In wage negotiations with its staff, the City should look to what’s happening in the wider Alberta economy, where wages have stayed relatively flat in light of difficult economic realities. The City’s spending has […]

Concurrently, their periphery markets ranked among most entrepreneurial in Canada. I’d like to begin this post about a recent client I worked with who was trying to lease out their property located within the City of Edmonton. Their property taxes equalled an astounding $6.00 per SF in an area notoriously known for not having full

Prosperity Edmonton said 73 per cent of those who participated in its Leger poll wanted a hold on tax increases, and 51 per cent believed the city should hold off on any new municipal spending, “even if that means the city can’t improve the services it offers or begin providing new services.” Eighty-two per cent

Members of Edmonton City Council had to rush to city hall Friday morning for an unscheduled meeting to solidify funding priorities and what it wants from the Alberta government. The meeting was held in private, but opening comments from Mayor Don Iveson provided a hint at what the focus was. Read the full article here

EDMONTON—Dozens of people flooded council chambers Thursday for the first public hearing on a tight capital and operating budget that has councillors set to make some tough financial decisions. The city’s four-year, $4.3-billion capital budget proved to be a tight one as it only gave city councillors $200 million to play with over the next

City council was pulled in polarizing directions Thursday at a public hearing ahead of upcoming budget deliberations, as some speakers called for frugality while others pleaded for debt-funded spending to fill service gaps. Watch the Edmonton Journal Story 

Edmontonians flocked to City Hall today – to speak on the proposed budget. Councillor Aaron Paquette says it’s a mix of wanting investment in Edmonton but not wanting tax increases. Watch the CityTV News report

Cheryll Watson with Innovate Edmonton – a division of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation – and Craig Knox with DrugBank, share more about the Edmonton Advisory Council on Startups and how they hope the city will help support the initiative. More details can also be found at EdmontonInnovationEcosystem.com Watch the Global Edmonton Interview

73% of Edmonton homeowners oppose tax increase in 2019: poll Edmonton- During the City of Edmonton’s 2019-2022 budget deliberations, Prosperity Edmonton commissioned a poll to measure Edmonton homeowners’ opinions on City spending, taxation rates and related topics. In their responses, nearly three in four homeowners agreed that it’s time to hold the line on tax

Your ability to absorb a property tax increase has taken a significant hit these last two months, according to the chief economist for the City of Edmonton. And John Rose doesn’t see things improving any time soon. It’s a disturbing mix of your paycheque not getting any larger and inflation eating away at what you

People who live in Edmonton will be paying monthly increases on their utility bills to help the waste management branch cope with an entirely new business model over the next four years. However, the details of what specifically each increase is for won’t be worked out until February. Read the full Global Edmonton Story

The city released the proposed 2019-2022 operating budget on Thursday, and it calls for annual revenue and expenditures of $2.98 billion next year, increasing to $3.27 billion in 2022. The document goes to council on Nov. 7. Read the full story 

New job positions at the City of Edmonton could be eliminated in the coming years when the city finishes an ongoing program and service approved in 2015. The city’s proposed 2019-22 operating budget includes hiring nearly 750 new full-time employees over the next four years. Read the full CBC story

City Council has its work cut out for it: refine the Proposed 2019-2022 Operating Budget to get to a zero percent tax increase for next year   Edmonton- City of Edmonton Administration last week released its Proposed 2019-2022 Operating Budget, which would require an increase in property tax revenue of 18.9%, or nearly 5% per

Mayor Don Iveson is right to focus on fiscal restraint in the coming city budget which he warns will be the toughest in a decade. Unfortunately, some parts of his five-point plan unveiled this week to rein in tax increases don’t make sense for Edmonton. Read the full story

“We have heard loud and clear from Edmontonians and from the business community specifically that they are looking for some [tax] relief,” Iveson told reporters Tuesday morning. “This will be Edmonton’s toughest budget in a decade,” he said. Ream the full article

When you’re the mayor, the buck, ultimately, stops with you. Sure, the mayor may be just one vote on council, but it is the lone council member voted on by all electors. So it’s only natural that the mayor is the person to whom we look for leadership when it comes to the budget. Read

This is a column about Mayor Don Iveson and city council, and whether either are truly serious about holding the line on spending and tax increases. Read the full article

The City of Edmonton is anticipating a $14.4-million deficit by the end of 2018, despite the extra $5 million it got from renegotiating the Edmonton Tower contract. Read the full story

Coun. Andrew Knack put cuts of up to $64 million on the table Friday, asking city administration to outline what they would propose if asked to cut one, two, three or four per cent of the city operating budget. If the motion is endorsed at the next council meeting, city administration will release that list

A lobby effort that started this past summer is ramping up. As Vinesh Pratap explains, Edmonton’s rising property taxes and the impact on city businesses what some are concerned about.

Local business owner Rob Pangrass is fed up with what’s come to be known as the Edmonton Disadvantage, ever increasing taxes and red tape for businesses that are already struggling through an iffy economy. Business owners and organizations have now banded together into a coalition called Prosperity Edmonton to lobby city council and explain what

Later this year, debate will get underway on the City of Edmonton’s next budget cycle. As Vinesh Pratap reports, Mayor Iveson is now throwing out a number for how high he’d like to see a potential increase. Watch the full story

Do you feel sorry for city council? I know I do. Councillors are said to be struggling during the current budget debate. They want to spend money, money, money. But you and I are getting sick and tired of huge property and business tax increases every year. So councillors no longer feel they have an

Edmonton residents could face a two per cent tax increase next year even before city council looks at emerging needs and key projects. But business owners and at least some councillors are looking for places to whittle that number down. Population growth and inflation mean police are expected $14.9 million extra under the city’s current

It’s time to take pity on the poor taxpayer. City council should give it a rest when it comes to property tax increases. In its new statement of principles for government spending, council has pledged itself to equity, the notion that it will take special care to look out for the needs of the downtrodden

Richard Gendron is planning to move his business out of Edmonton as soon as the Valley Line LRT opens. Ad-Mart has a prime spot on 75 Street, just across from where the new elevated Davies Station is being built. The LRT will bring new exposure, but he won’t be able to afford the taxes. Read

It’s one thing for politicians to defend tax increases as a necessary evil, to fund services being demanded by the citizenry. But then there’s a reality called the free market. Invisible political boundaries surround the City of Edmonton.

It might not be a tea-party scale tax revolt, but something is definitely brewing in the provincial capital. For the last few weeks, a local coalition of business leaders and associations have been quietly organizing to take on, what they will argue come fall, is an unfair tax burden levied on Edmonton business owners and

With a tax freeze on the table and a tighter budget than many councillors have seen yet, this city budget won’t be about new initiatives. It will be about how deep to cut. Read the full article 

Guest Janet Riopel, President and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce talks about fiscal restraint as the city developes a four-year budget

Keeping the pressure on city taxes. Why some businesses in Edmonton are banding together to voice their concerns.

June 26 – Jespersen – 9:20 – Prosperity Edmonton wants City of Edmonton to hold off on business tax increases

We are concerned that commercial property taxes requisitioned by the City of Edmonton, and paid by businesses, have more than doubled in the last ten years. This has affected Edmonton’s competitiveness, small businesses confidence, attractiveness in national site selection, and overall employment

“It’s a tipping point,” said Prosperity Edmonton spokesman Chad Griffiths, a commercial real estate broker, asking council for a freeze. They want administration to outline various options for what that could look like. “We just think they need to find savings.” Read the full article here