EDMONTON — The City of Edmonton’s proposed 2019-2022 capital budget totalling $4.3 billion over four years has been released and presented to city council.
Todd Burge, chief financial officer for the City of Edmonton, said in a release the city believes this budget provides value to Edmonton residents while meeting the commitments that were made to renew and grow the city.
“We’ll continue existing long-term projects, make sure our current infrastructure is able to serve us as we need it to and start some new initiatives that will help to deliver the high quality of life Edmontonians expect,” Burge said.
The budget recommends investment in infrastructure projects like the Neighbourhood Renewal Program to update and replace neighbourhood streets and sidewalks. Funds were also allocated to continued work on the Yellowhead Trail Freeway conversion and Valley Line Southeast LRT.
Projects some city residents were hoping for were not funded, including construction of the $273-million Lewis Farms Recreation Centre and upgrades to the Stadium LRT Station.
“The two projects are unfunded unless the city decides to go into debt,” the release stated.
“Edmonton is growing. It’s important to build and maintain infrastructure to support that growth and to keep Edmonton an attractive place for people to live and work,” said Adam Laughlin, deputy city manager for integrated infrastructure services. “This budget is about delivering important transformational projects, and a continued commitment to maintaining existing infrastructure.”
After the initial presentation to council, a public hearing will be held on Nov. 15, followed by deliberations among council.
The final version of the budget will be set by council and is expected in late 2018.
The City of Edmonton has one of the worst systems in place for getting a permit for project . This causes developers to go to other cities and towns for their projects. Until this is changed, the City of Edmonton will not grow at the speed it should.