On December 5, City Council approved significant property tax increases - 6.1% in 2025 and 6.8% in 2026. I voted against these increases, and here’s why.

The real impact on Edmonton homeowners is far greater than the headline numbers suggest. When you combine rising house values with tax rates:

• The cumulative property tax increase from 2023 to 2025 will be 21.3%
• With house prices predicted to rise 7.8% in Edmonton next year, the average homeowner will face a 14.2% property tax increase in 2025 - not the 6.1% being reported
• The City's property tax revenue will jump from $1.78B in 2022 to $2.28B in 2025 - a staggering $500M increase. It's hard to track where all of that money will go.

A History of Failed Budget Reforms

Throughout my time on Council, I've consistently pushed for better financial management. Last term, I promoted Priority Based Budgeting with several colleagues, but City Administration returned with "Prioritized Based Budgeting" - where nothing was actually prioritized.

In 2021, I campaigned on the need for a line-by-line budget review, similar to what other levels of government do. During the 2022 budget discussions, the Mayor adopted but transformed this idea into an Administration-led process called OP12, which ultimately resulted in no significant changes to our budget.

Taking Action for Change

The recent budget debate reinforced my conviction that Council’s budgeting process is fundamentally broken, and City Administration's standard response that "any budget reduction means service cuts" misses the point. Yes, we need to reduce services we can't afford or don't need right now and correspondingly reduce the amount of money we take out of people’s pockets. That's exactly what responsible governance looks like.

I've consistently called for specific actions:

• A halt to all significant new projects until we get our cost management processes under control
• An Infrastructure Committee including private sector experts
• Reductions in Neighborhood Renewal spending and a review of the scope of this program
• Reductions to the number of employment positions in certain departments
• Zero Based Budgeting to enable a comprehensive review of city finances

Breaking Through the Roadblocks

Each proposal met resistance. My suggested reduction in Neighborhood Renewal spending was supposed to be included in the group submission - but disappeared by budget day. When I proposed reducing employment positions in certain departments, I was told these reductions would not be supported.

This experience taught me something important: cherry-picking random items from the City's budget, without context or a clear understanding of the consequences, was simply bad governance and reinforced our broken process. That's why I championed Zero Based Budgeting - to bring a Council-led, overarching review of all City finances.

Moving Forward

I'm modestly pleased that my suggestions for an Infrastructure Committee, a pause on major project spending, and Zero Based Budgeting, have all been passed by City Council. These initiatives will take time to implement - the committees need to be formed, mandates established, and work scheduled. By the next election, we should be ready to write a new budget for the 2027-2030 cycle using these improved processes.

However, until then, Edmonton taxpayers will continue to overpay for an inefficient system. While some celebrate reducing the 2025 increase from 8.1% to 6.1%, this was accomplished by borrowing from future years - serving up a poison pill for the next Council to swallow. And beyond that, a 6.1% increase is not the work of heroes. 

My commitment remains firm: we must fix how we manage your money, once and for all. These new committees and processes are a start, but they'll only work if we stay vigilant and committed to real change.

Want to Learn More?

Several recent media stories have covered these issues in detail. You can find links to my interviews and commentary below:

• Edmonton Journal: Tensions rise at Edmonton city hall over budget process
• Edmonton Journal: Keith Gerein: Edmonton councillors play the politics of finances
• CityNews: Edmonton's planned 2025 property tax increase will double Calgary's
• CityNews: Edmonton councillor questions bike lane program
• Taproot: Council tensions emerge as fall budget adjustment begins

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