Alberta funding formula to boost municipal infrastructure

EDMONTON – The Alberta government has introduced a new framework to increase funding for municipal infrastructure.

The Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF) was introduced in Alberta’s 2024 budget to replace the Municipal Sustainability Initiative and “provide a more predictable, legislated municipal infrastructure-funding model that is 100 per cent tied to provincial revenues, as municipalities requested,” a release said.

When provincial revenues increase, the release said, municipal funding increases at the same percentage and next year municipalities will receive more than $820 million for the 2025-26 fiscal year, an increase of just over 13 per cent from Budget 2024.

The LGFF provides funding for local infrastructure priorities in cities, towns, villages, summer villages, municipal districts and counties, and Metis Settlements across Alberta, the release said. The 2024 budget included $60 million in LGFF operating funding for communities outside Calgary and Edmonton.

The LGFF also includes a revenue index factor tying future funding levels to the percentage change in provincial revenues from three years prior, the release added, and the boost in municipal infrastructure funding for Budget 2025 is the result of increased provincial revenues for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.