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City of Airdrie partners with other mid-size municipalities to petition province for more funding

“Our group represents about a million Albertans, so it’s not like we’re small – we need to be heard,” Brown said. “We’re taking our message to the public and we want everyone to be aware of it.”

The City of Airdrie has partnered with other mid-size Alberta municipalities to petition the Government of Alberta for appropriate provincial infrastructure commitments, following the Alberta Municipalities Convention on Sept. 22.

The Mid-Sized Cities Mayors’ Caucus (MCMC) supported a resolution sponsored by the City of St. Albert and the City of Airdrie that calls on the Government of Alberta to expand the funding pot for the Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF) in 2024.

The group is now petitioning the Alberta government to increase the size of the funding stream at a 1:1 ratio linked to provincial revenue.

“Historically, the provincial government has provided [funding] through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative, which will be converted to the LGFF in 2024 and be reduced in funding size by 25 per cent,” stated a joint press release issued by the MCMC.

According to Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown, the group of mid-size municipalities represents approximately one-quarter of the population of Alberta.

“Our group represents about a million Albertans, so it’s not like we’re small – we need to be heard,” Brown said in an interview. “We’re taking our message to the public and we want everyone to be aware of it.”

Alberta’s MCMC represents 24 municipalities. According to the press release, the group will be exploring the development of an economic impact assessment to verify the economic influence mid-sized municipalities have on Alberta.

The release stated that as partners in economic prosperity and providers of public services and infrastructure, Alberta’s mid-sized cities require an “appropriate provincial infrastructure commitment.”

“Mid-sized municipalities are reliant on other orders of government for long-term, and stable infrastructure funding to support the completion of capital projects and improvements,” read the press release.

A decision from the province is forthcoming regarding the allocation formula of the $340 million of the LGFF that is allocated among all Alberta municipalities other than Edmonton and Calgary.

Cochrane mayor and chair of the MCMC, Jeff Genung, said Alberta’s mid-sized cities’ mayors believe the broader issue is the “size of the funding pot.”

“Alberta's mid-sized cities are the economic engine of the province,” Genung said in the same press release. “We are positioned to work with the Government of Alberta to enable economic corridors and continued prosperity across the province.”

To support current and future growth, Alberta's MCMC will be exploring a new long-term partnership with the Alberta government to enable job creation, economic progress, and the execution of social and environmental outcomes.

According to Brown, though the formula hasn’t been approved yet by Municipal Affairs or Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet, discussion has been leaning towards a “significant differential.”

“The funding formula says, if there’s a 10 per cent increase in provincial revenue that we will only get 50 per cent of that money,” Brown said. “When you look at this $13 billion surplus, I’m sure hoping that some of that money is going to be coming to the municipalities that need it.”

Brown brought up how the City of Airdrie contributed $62.5 million towards the 40 Avenue highway bridge and overpass project, which he considers a “provincial piece of infrastructure.”

“Yet in Leduc, they just got an announcement a year after ours and their $75 million project was 100 per cent supported by the provincial government. What’s going on?” he said “Those are big frustrations for me and all of our council.”

He added as part of LGFF, a community like Airdrie, which has “less debt than most other mid-sized municipalities, that manages their funds,” will be penalized.

“In this new formula, we’ll receive 25 per cent less or more, which means our businesses, or our residents will have to pick up the difference,” he said. “It’s sitting around for $4.5 million. It’s not small potatoes and it’s not just Airdrie, it’s Cochrane, it’s Okotoks – it’s all the other municipalities.”

“There’s only one taxpayer, so we decided as a group that we are going to make it public that we want the government to know this isn’t fair and reasonable.”

Both Calgary and Edmonton have a charter between them whereby they are exempt from the process and they’re getting about $60 million more through this formula than the previous one, Brown added.

“A lot of the smaller municipalities are actually getting more money through this process,” he said. “The mid-sized cities that are huge economic generators for the province and our local economies [are] being penalized.

The mayor encouraged residents to make their concerns known to their provincial government representatives.

“They need to share their opposition to this new formula because at the end of the day, it’s going to cost us more money and we need everyone’s support – we need everyone there to advocate,” he said. 

“We want to make sure the community is aware of what was going on and hopefully express their concerns to our MLAs.”



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