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Photo by Curtis Galbraith.
By Curtis Galbraith
City Hall

2025 budget talks start Wednesday at Grande Prairie City Hall

Nov 13, 2024 | 6:00 AM

City council will begin three days of 2025 budget talks Wednesday (November 13) at city hall.

Councillor Gladys Blackmore says city staff have been working to find ways to save money or ways to do things differently.

“When we get to budget to start discussing those things, I think our residents will be pleased with the work that’s gone into that.”

“No one is ever pleased with a tax increase, and it’s not going to be zero, so there’ll be something there, but I can’t tell you, at this point, what that number is.”

Blackmore is not expecting a lot of discussion around the transition to a municipal police force.

“Because we’ve been talking about that process regularly for two years now, so, I think that we’re comfortable with where we’re at.”

“The full transition won’t take place until 2026. There is going to be some overlap of services, and we’ll see how that goes, but it’s not looking bad as far as the budget goes.”

Blackmore says the city provides a lot of services that come with a high price tag.

“There are two options, and we try to find a balance between those two options. One is to cut services, therefore spend less, or the other is to figure out ways to save money so that we don’t have to cut services and not have a tax increase.”

“But it is a balancing act that, quite frankly, really doesn’t make anyone happy.”

Blackmore says with inflation coming down recently, they are hoping to hear some good news when they hear a financial forecast from people from the banks.

Talks will continue through Friday.

by Curtis Galbraith