Edmonton city council hears budget numbers

It’s been a buzz at Edmonton city council for weeks. Finally, Tuesday councillors got a better idea of the city’s money troubles, and the mayor wants the province to help.

It’s a tough time for Edmonton’s finances. Overtime for firefighters is up. The same thing for Edmonton bus drivers and transit operators, just as transit revenue is down.

Add in higher costs for fuel, maintenance and construction costs, and Edmonton is projected to spend over $2.2 billion this year on the capital budget.

“I think we have caught up on growth quite a bit. We are building large LRT projects, upgrades to Terwillegar, Yellowhead, 82nd,” said Amarjeet Sohi, Mayor of Edmonton.

Part of the budget hole, Mayor Sohi says, is the province not paying their share of property taxes.

Late last month, the mayor took to social media on the steps of the legislature to call the province out. Tuesday Edmonton’s mayor claiming nothing has changed.

RELATED: Edmonton’s mayor takes to social media to call-out province on property taxes

“We have seen no movement — we have a very unresponsive provincial government when it comes to Edmontonians needs. We have seen a 2/3rd reduction in the infrastructure that we’re getting from the provincial government.”

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs told CityNews the province provides grants to the City of Edmonton in place of property taxes, to the tune of $800 million over 3 years for infrastructure.

Councillor Tim Cartmell doesn’t agree with the mayor’s methods to get the province to pay.

“My approach to building relationships is different, it’s quite frankly not in front of tv cameras. It’s going down and having those conversations and finding common ground and building from there.”