Council must save to make up for big instrastructure spending

City council plans to build alot of new projectsover the next three years, and now they have to figure out how theyre going to pay for it without overtaxing property owners.

So far, councillors have added enough projects to the capital budget to raisethe proposed tax increase to about 5.7 per cent as of noon on Friday.

• Build your own capital budget

But as capital budget talks came to a close, Mayor Don Iveson warned the tax increase is still going to change drastically as operating budget talks begin.

The Edmonton Police Service has askedto hire another 84 officers next year, which would pump the increase up by another oneper cent.

I know theres no appetite for a six per cent tax increase, he said.

In total, the city approved more than 20 new projects, ranging from bike lanes to recreation centres.

Weve made some commitments around infrastructure that I think are very, very important,"Ivesonsaid.
Edmontonianshave been clear with us that they do not want us to fall behind on infrastructure again.

Council also tried to put at least some money toward projects they couldn't fund in full, such as thenew recreation centre in the city's west end.

Council can still go back and revise the plans theyve made for the capital budget over the last several days.

The deadline for final budget approval is December 12.