(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By David Opinko

How does your town fare?

Compare taxes, debt, and more on Alberta’s new Municipal Measurement Index

Dec 15, 2020 | 1:33 PM

If you have ever wanted to know how your municipal government compares to others, a new tool can help you with that.

The Government of Alberta has launched the Municipal Measurement Index (MMI), which allows users to compare financial and statistical information on Alberta’s 338 municipalities.

This can include property tax rates, major revenue and expense categories, assessment values, debt values, and more.

“We want municipalities to be strong, fiscally responsible partners in the province’s economic recovery,” says Minister of Municipal Affairs Tracy Allard. “Having a tool Albertans can use to view and compare data for municipalities across the province will increase accountability and transparency, while helping improve local decision-making.”

The goal of this platform is to allow residents to make informed decisions about where they live and do business while encouraging municipal councils to be more competitive.

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“Supporting and improving municipal fiscal competitiveness is a top priority for our network of 122 community chambers across the province,” adds Ken Kobly, CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce. “The Municipal Measurement Index is a significant step toward doing just that, providing job creators the clarity they need to make sound investment decisions.”

Data is provided by municipalities through their audited financial statements, financial information returns, statistical information returns, and data collected on other publicly-available datasets such as Statistics Canada.

Currently, the MMI is only usable on laptop and desktop computers. The province says they are working on a mobile version.

You can access the MMI here.

(Lethbridge News Now)