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September 10, 2024
City Administration updated City Council on both the capital and operating budgets for the second quarter of 2024 (current as of June 30). The City provides these updates three times a year to keep Council and Edmontonians informed about the City’s finances and capital projects.
Stacey Padbury, the Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager of Financial and Corporate Services, issued the following statement on this report:
“The City is facing ongoing budget challenges, including inflationary pressures, a rapidly growing population and changing service needs of Edmontonians. These challenges contributed to the City’s deficit in 2023 and continue to impact the City in 2024. Administration is putting plans in place to address these challenges starting with the budget update this fall.
“Based on our financial results from the second quarter, the City is forecasting a deficit of $34 million this year. The City’s finances have been stable and tools like the Financial Stabilization Reserve help to manage one-time pressures like deficits. We’re working to keep the actual deficit as low as possible for 2024, but we must also address the root causes to prevent future deficits and maintain the City’s financial health.
“The financial challenges the City faces are complex and will take several years to address. We’re going to have to make some tough choices to both increase our revenues and reduce our costs. It will take a combination of service reductions, property tax increases and service fee increases to ensure our continued financial stability.”
This fall, Council will consider any adjustments to the 2023-2026 Budget, which will make updates to:
- How much the City spends on programs and services in 2025 and 2026.
- How much the City needs to collect in property taxes.
- How the City moves forward with its plan to build or maintain infrastructure.
- How the City responds to the ongoing impacts of inflation, rapid population growth and other budget challenges.
Administration will present its fall budget adjustment recommendations in November and Council will deliberate any adjustments in December.
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