This week, council is scheduled to discuss its budget process, adding peace officers to transit stations, and several rezonings in south-central Edmonton.
There is a public hearing scheduled for March 17 and a city council meeting scheduled for March 18 and 19. There is also a special audit sub-committee meeting scheduled for March 18.
Here are key items on this week's agenda:
- Administration has proposed council begin using a results-based budgeting process for the 2027-2030 municipal budget. In December, council directed administration to develop a new zero-based, line-by-line budget process for the next four-year budget, itself a different process to what council has used in recent years. The zero-based process requires all programs, expenditures, and service levels be evaluated, and needs council to confirm each program, which can slow decisions, according to a report scheduled to be presented to council on March 18. Administration recommends, instead, that results-based budgeting be used. In that process, performance information is used to understand if budget decisions are having the desired impacts in the community. To achieve a results-based budgeting process, administration has proposed that, starting in 2026, each city department will present reports to council's executive committee. Staff would present an overview of the branch, a line-by-line budget, funding model, key cost drivers, structural budget variances, staffing composition, outputs and deliverables, services and service levels, benchmark comparisons with other municipalities where possible, and any audit information. Council is set to vote on this proposed budget process on March 18.
- Administration recommends council reallocate $5 million from security guard contracts with Commissionaires to use to hire more peace officers at transit stations. In a report going to council on March 18, administration said it will create an enhanced transit peace officer deployment plan for citywide coverage and increase the number of peace officers from 96 to 126, while phasing Commissionaires out of the 19 transit facilities that they currently work in.
- Council is set to review three rezoning applications in Strathcona: One at the intersection of 99 Street NW and 90 Avenue NW to allow for an eight-storey building; one at 10039 87 Avenue NW to allow for a three-storey building; and one at 10448 84 Avenue NW to allow for a four-storey building. Council will also review a rezoning application in McKernan at 11267 73 Avenue NW to allow for a three-storey building, and one in Garneau at 10948 89 Avenue NW to allow for a four-storey building.
Council is set to discuss rezoning applications, adding peace officers to transit, and zero-based budget. (Mack Male/Flickr)
Here are other items on the agenda:
- The city ended 2024 with a $700,000 operating budget deficit, according to a financial update scheduled to be presented to council on March 18. The deficit is significantly smaller than the $19.4-million deficit that was forecast at the end of September due in part to timing of grant payments and delayed contract and consulting work. The city also spent $1.64 billion on capital projects in 2024, which is higher than previous years because major projects like the Valley Line West LRT, Lewis Farms Community Recreation Centre, and Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion have moved further into construction, an update on the capital budget said.
- Council is scheduled to vote on extending the Downtown Community Revitalization Levy by 10 years, after executive committee endorsed the plan. An extension would allow millions of dollars to go toward a deal between the OEG and the Alberta government for several large-scale downtown projects that include an event park, plus open up funding for downtown housing, Jasper Avenue upgrades, and other "catalyst" projects. Coun. Aaron Paquette questioned the pressure on council to give public money to private projects, while Coun. Jo-Anne Wright questioned the public benefit of OEG's event park and whether the group would build affordable housing. Business interest groups BILD Edmonton Metro, NAIOP, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and the Edmonton Downtown Business Association generally supported expanding the downtown CRL, Postmedia reported.
- The Winspear Centre needs an additional $33.4 million to complete its expansion, and council is scheduled to debate if it should give the centre the money at a meeting on March 18. The Winspear said it doesn't have the capacity to repay a loan, so the funding would be given in the form of a one-time grant. The grant would require a one-time tax increase of 1.7%, a report detailing the expansion said. Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang said in January that the expansion project will contribute to downtown vibrancy. "This isn't a bailout as some would like to portray it," she said. "This is a very unique project that has a long history. There have been a number of circumstances that happened, decisions that have been made, that have led to where it is today."
- Irwin Creek Developments has applied to rezone a land parcel in the Gorman neighbourhood to allow for a residential development of 730 housing units. Administration said it does not support the application because it would erode industrial land that is highly valuable due its size, contiguous nature, and location near freight rail lines. Administration said the proposed community would not have meaningful connections or integration with land uses that support residential development, like transit, schools, and stores. However, the rezoning application, scheduled to be reviewed at a public hearing on March 17, acknowledges that the land parcel has been a challenge to develop and that the rezoning could lead to more than 700 homes during a housing crisis.
- Council is set to review a rezoning application that would allow for the development of the Heidelberg Materials carbon capture, utilization, and storage facility in the city's northwest. The rezoning would also accommodate the preservation of Kinokamau Lake by maintaining a 50-metre buffer between the lake and any industrial development.
- Coun. Aaron Paquette is set to request a report detailing the city's use of social media, including the risks or benefits associated with continuing to use these platforms.
- Council is scheduled to receive a verbal update on Dutch elm disease on March 18.
- Council's audit committee will receive a private update from the city auditor at a meeting on March 18.
- Council is set to receive in-camera updates on the Enterprise Commons project, procurement, collective bargaining, and council appointments to civic agencies.
Meetings stream live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.