Edmonton mulls cutting neighbourhood renewal to help lower tax rate

Edmonton's neighbourhood renewal program is under scrutiny as city council embarks on the annual fall budget session next week and faces a proposed 8.1 per cent property tax increase.

A new report shows the city could save $40 million a year by cutting the $159 million a year program by 25 per cent. 

The program that started in 2009 renews four to five neighbourhoods a year by repaving roads, replacing curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and improving landscaping and street lighting. 

But the option is unlikely to get council's endorsement, after a discussion at urban planning committee Tuesday. 

Cutting the program would mean 15 projects would fall behind, including five neighbourhoods in the queue for reconstruction: Glenwood, Overlanders, Homesteader, Hillview and Dunluce. 

The time required to catch up on neighbourhood renewal would increase by six to 10 years, the report says. 

Erin Rutherford, councillor for Ward Anirniq, is not in favour of cutting the program, noting the communities were promised that construction would start in 2025. 

Neighbourhoods like Dunluce are in urgent need of repair, Rutherford said in an interview Tuesday.

"Your sidewalks are going to continue to crumble, and you're not going to get neighbourhood renewal for another three, four, five years when you were promised in 2025," Rutherford said.

Even if some projects are delayed for a few years, Edmontonians are still going to end up paying later, she said. 

"It's clear that that is just going to continue to kick the can down the road," she said. "Because it would be pausing it for two to three years, the next council's going to have to put that back into the tax levy."  

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Coun. Tim Cartmell was curious about the parameter of council's authority to alter that budget for two or three years. 

"Can we reduce the amount of tax dollars collected? Can we reduce this $159 million to some other value for a couple of years or does that require a public hearing?"

Craig Walbaum, deputy city manager of integrated infrastructure services, said it's council's discretion to reduce the budget but the city needs to follow policies that dictate neighbourhood renewal decisions. 

"If it impacts the description of the intent of the policy, it needs to go through that non-statutory public hearing to make sure the public has a chance to weigh in," Walbaum said. 

Neighbourhood renewal can include installing or improving shared pathways, bike infrastructure, and safety measures like raised crosswalks and medians.

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• Beyond repair: Councillors take step toward renewal program that's solely for sidewalks

Most of the funding goes to the basics of repaving roadways and widening sidewalks, with five to ten per cent going to safety and traffic calming measures.

Rutherford said she hears from residents concerned that tax dollars are going to elaborate landscaping plans, which is not the case. 

Council asked for the analysis on the program in April to see a breakdown of the costs and implications of cutting it by 25 to 35 per cent. 

Policy review

The urban planning committee agreed to a motion asking administration to review the 40-plus policies around neighbourhood renewal that influence decisions on what gets fixed and when. 

Policies around access, traffic safety and connectivity, for example, like provide convenient pedestrian crossings and planning active transportation and transit networks.

The committee is asking for that report before the 2027-2030 budget.