OLDS — Town of Olds Mayor Judy Dahl says her council will “continue dialogue” regarding a decision by the provincial government earlier to cut its grants to municipalities by 40 per cent.
The issue was one of many that came up during the annual Alberta Municipalities convention, held Sept. 25-27 in Red Deer.
“These reductions have placed an unfair and disproportionate burden on municipal ratepayers. We will continue dialogue,” she wrote in an email to the Albertan.
Delegates were angry that the provincial government pays less than half of what it owes on provincial buildings.
Delegates were told that the provincial government is giving municipalities $722 million in infrastructure grants each year via its Local Government Fiscal Framework. (LGFF).
Alberta Municipalities President Tyler Gandam said that’s “a start,” but said another $1billion a year in funding is needed to cover the shortfall.
Dahl was asked if Olds is among the municipalities calling on the province to pay full property taxes on its buildings in town.
Premier Danielle Smith reportedly would not commit to that.
Dahl said that issue “requires more dialogue with council as a whole.”
As for Gandam’s call for $1 billion a year in LGFF to Alberta municipalities, Dahl wrote, “any elected official in Alberta would be pressed not to agree.
“We all struggle with crumbling infrastructure which today becomes ongoing pressures with the intake of population we are receiving within our communities.”
Another issue raised during the convention was Bill 20, the province’s new law that, in part, prohibits the use of electronic vote-counting machines, forcing municipalities to have votes counted by hand.
During the convention, delegates voted 85.5 per cent for a resolution that would ask the province to reverse the changes and allow municipalities to choose whether or not to use vote counting machines in elections.
Dahl indicated that resorting to hand-counting rather than utilizing the vote-counting machines will be costly.
“It was an overwhelming conversation that the cost to our municipalities would be a hard-hitting increase to our citizens,” she wrote, but did not indicate what that cost might be.
Dahl also did not say how she or her fellow council members voted on the question.
“My council members vote electronically and I do not speak to how they vote,” she wrote.
Dahl said the convention was “very educational” and, with nearly 1,100 delegates, attendance was strong.
She said 27 resolutions were debated and passed and that “conversation on floor was passionate.”
Delegates got a chance to hear from several provincial cabinet ministers. Dahl said two minister dialogue sessions were held, featuring a total of 14 ministers.
She said Olds did not advance or co-sponsor any resolutions.
Dahl noted that this year’s ABMunis convention marked the first time the event had been held in Red Deer since 2018.
She said delegates were able to peruse more than 100 exhibitors’ booths.
