Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

City Hall budget talks start Wednesday

Nov 26, 2025 | 6:00 AM

City Hall budget talks start today (Wednesday, November 26).

The starting point for deliberations for the 2026 spending plan is a potential tax increase of 5.78 per cent to keep service levels where they are now.

The final transition to the Grande Prairie Police Service would require an additional 2.66 per cent increase.

Mayor Jackie Clayton says she is confident that will not be the same number by the time talks finish.

“There are tools that council will be given. We have some limited reserves that are useful. You can postpone capital initiatives.”

“There are other conversations around really determining those must-have, need-to-have items, rather than the nice-to-have.”

Clayton says some items have been referred to talks that are not yet included in the budget.

She adds it is a high priority for council to keep Grande Prairie an affordable community.

“Council, when they make their decision, hears from people on a regular basis about how important it is to remain affordable.”

“The previous councils did a very strong job of keeping the cost of tax increases below the rate of inflation, so over a 10-year average, previous councils kept the increase in taxes below the rate of inflation, and there comes a time when you must face the fact that everything costs more.”

Clayton says there will be some difficult decisions to make.

“You could reduce taxes by reducing services. We know, however, how important many of those services are: snow removal, and potholes, and the hours of the Eastlink (Centre) and providing a great community to live. Unfortunately, it costs more every day.”

Talks are expected to continue into Friday.

The city’s budget book can be read by clicking here.