City of Edmonton renewal investment shortfall sits at $1.5B: report

City of Edmonton administration and council will discuss next week how to balance growing the city while maintaining existing infrastructure, after a new administrative report found a shortfall of $1.5 billion for the 2023-26 capital budget.

The city has $34 billion worth of infrastructure and assets, including roads, recreation centres, parks, pools, fire halls, transit and community spaces. But only 54 per cent of funding is going toward maintenance and renewal, the report says.

Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador said the report was not surprising. She has put forward measures like a dedicated fund to mitigate underfunding renewal.

"Over time, if we're not taking care of all of our infrastructure and assets, we start to see potential service declines. We see that infrastructure falling into disrepair, which ultimately is more costly for Edmontonians," Salvador told CBC News.

"We can have a dedicated fund in place to predictably and sustainably take care of our existing infrastructure."

Salvador said Edmonton, like other North American cities, has spread itself thin, sprawling "quite quickly." But she said the city didn't have "an adequate line of sight as to how we're actually going to pay for all of that infrastructure."

The municipal government needs to understand the full life cycle costs of all its assets when it builds new facilities, roads and communities near the edge of the city, she said.

"We need to be able to not only build them at the outset and pay for the growth of those assets, but have sustainable funding," Salvador said.

In March, city council voted to support the creation of a dedicated renewal fund.

Provincial funding 

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette has concerns over provincial cuts to infrastructure funding for municipalities, saying the Alberta government "massively reduced" the amount provided.

"For us, that's meant over $1 billion lost in unconstrained infrastructure dollars," Paquette said.

Unconstrained funding can be used without specific restrictions or limitations.

Paquette said, at this point, nothing essential will be immediately impacted, but mitigating costs will help future taxpayers.

"The reason we have this deficit is through provincial cuts and through, obviously, inflation and some of these tariff discussions," he said. "But it's our job to sort of accommodate for that and provide policy and direction that, again, will shield residents."

In an emailed statement to CBC News on Friday, Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams said the provincial government is stepping up to meet the challenge and ensure Edmontonians "have access to world-class public infrastructure."

Williams said the city received $179 million through the Local Governance Fiscal Framework, an increase of more than 13 per cent from last year.

He noted that, in this year's budget, the provincial government increased amounts paid through its Grants in Place of Taxes program to 75 per cent, with plans to increase amounts to 100 per cent next year. The program lets the Alberta government give municipalities grants instead of paying property taxes on its properties within those communities.

The move came after municipalities across Alberta voiced concern to the provincial government over the impact of cuts to grants in place of taxes in recent decades.

Williams said the City of Edmonton will receive roughly $28.6 million in funding through the grant, up more than $10.5 million from last year.

The provincial capital plan currently sits at $26.1 billion. It includes $1.6 billion for LRT expansion projects, $190 million for the expansions of Terwillegar Drive and Yellowhead Trail in Edmonton and $106 million to revitalize downtown Edmonton.

Edmonton city council will debate further how to prioritize renewal at the city council meeting at city hall on June 10.