The City of Grande Prairie ranked as the 10th biggest spender among Alberta's largest municipalities (Photo: Shaun Penner)

By Shaun Penner

Municipal Spending

CTF report calls for Alberta municipalities to curtail spending amid downturn

Jun 17, 2020 | 5:30 AM

A new report published by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) shows just how much Alberta municipalities are spending on a per resident basis, while claiming municipalities in the Wild Rose province are some of the biggest spenders in all of Canada.

The report from the CTF cites the Alberta Blue Ribbon Panel’s report from last fall (the panel formed by the UCP government in 2019 commissioned to review the province’s finances), which claimed that Alberta municipalities are among the biggest spenders per capita in Canada, ranking second to Ontario.

The CTF’s Alberta Director Franco Terrazzano says that with COVID-19 putting a financial strain on many residents right now, municipalities should be focusing on cutting spending to keep from having to raise taxes.

“Everyone needs to do their part right now and that means municipal governments need to tighten their belts like everyone else.”

Among the “big cities” in Alberta, Grande Prairie came in ranked 10^th out of 14 cities, spending at a rate of $2,779 per resident. That is less than half of what top spender Medicine Hat spends, at $6,243 annually, while also coming in behind cities like Lethbridge, Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton.

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While Terrazzano says it is a good thing Grande Prairie isn’t coming in near the top, with Alberta municipalities tending to spend more according to the Blue Ribbon Panel, more budget trimming should be done.

“It’s almost like being the most sober person in the drunk tank, it’s not something you would brag to your mom about.”

In response to COVID-19, the City of Grande Prairie did provide a property tax rebate equal to a zero per cent increase for 2020. As for the 2021 budget, Council has directed Administration to target a budget that would have between a zero and 2.5 per cent increase for next year.

The CTF report is broken up into three categories, including big cities (population over 30,000), medium-sized municipalities (population 5,000-30,000) and small towns (population under 5,000).

In the medium-sized category, it is the MD of Greenview that comes in at top spot, spending just under $15,000 per resident.

While Terrazzano says it is not fair to directly compare per resident spending from Greenview to a larger centre like Grande Prairie because of population differences and the difference in tax bases, there are areas he thinks the municipality should limit its spending on.

“Just looking through the strategic report from the (MD) of Greenview, you notice right away that there are areas that they are spending a lot of money in,” said Terrazzano. “Greenview’s own report talks about how the municipal district is heavily invested in recreation… it talks about the competitive wages and the generous benefits for its municipal employees.”

“Those are two key areas, especially now that we are in this downturn, that Greenview has to start looking at to save costs for taxpayers, so that it can provide much needed property tax relief.”

The full report from the CTF can be read here. A list of where Grande Prairie area municipalities rank in the report are as follows:

Big Cities

• Grande Prairie: $2,779 (10 of 14)

Medium-Sized Municipalities

• MD of Greenview: $14,911 (1 of 74)
• County of Grande Prairie: $4,337 (12 of 74)
• Peace River: $3,817 (21 of 74)

Small Towns

• Saddle Hills County: $15,582 (4 of 195)
• Valleyview: $9,301 (6 of 195)
• MD of Spirit River: $7,008 (17 of 195)
• Birch Hills County: $6,442 (21 of 195)
• Fox Creek: $5,138 (32 of 195)
• Rycroft: $3,878 (54 of 195)
• Spirit River: $3,390 (71 of 195)
• Beaverlodge: $2,754 (116 of 195)
• Hythe: $2,295 (149 of 195)
• Wembley: $2,186 (163 of 195)
• Sexsmith: $2,005 (179 of 195)