Red Deer city council adopts approved 2023 capital and operating budgets

As well, carryforwards in the operating budget are one-time approvals funded by the Operating Reserve – Tax Supported where the work is not complete by the end of the year. The amounts are deducted from 2022 and added back to 2023, following review by the City Manager to ensure they are projects that must continue and have no tax impact.

CAPITAL BUDGET

Administration says they found two capital projects were omitted from the budget and not approved during deliberations. The City presented those projects for approval on Monday.

Council initially approved in December 2022 capital budgets of $102.064 million in 2023 and $106.283 million in 2024. After adjustments, the capital budget for 2023 would be $104,736 million, an increase of $2.673 million, and $106,143 million for 2024, a decrease of $0.140 million.

The projects are:

The Physical Security Infrastructure project which focuses on standardization and upgrades of security hardware and related infrastructure across City facilities, funded by the Capital Projects Reserve.
The Pedestrian Connections/Missing Links project and the Road/Sidewalk rehabilitation project which constructs trails, sidewalks, and transit stop infrastructure where they currently do not exist. This project is funded 69 per cent by the COVID Resilience Grant and 31 per cent by the Capital Projects Reserve. The City says the reduction in the 2024 budget is due to the grant stipulations that require the work to be done in 2023.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

The City said that some provincial budget announcements may have future impacts to the City.

They say the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) operating grant is expected to double for 2023/2024, resulting in an increase of one-time finding for the City between $700,000 – 1.4 million. They say the extra grant dollars would improve year end surplus, transferring to the Operating Reserve – Tax Supported (ORTS) as a strategy for financial sustainability, and spent in the years they are received.

Administration confirmed MSI Capital remained unchanged in 2023/2024 and say they are not aware of any plans for the Government of Alberta to increase the City’s allocation.

They say the Local Government Fiscal Framework increased funding for 2024/2025 to $782 million for all municipalities across the province, however, the City does not know Red Deer’s impact because the formula for the funding has not been announced yet.

City of Red Deer and council finalize budget with lowered municipal tax increase

by Alessia Proietti

Red Deer city council adopts approved 2023 capital and operating budgets

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