Alberta municipalities tops in per capita spending, according to study
He pointed to last summer's water feeder main break in Calgary which led to costly repairs, even though the city reported a surplus of $276 million in 2024 — up seven per cent from the previous year.
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While it may be prudent to ensure cash reserves in case of sudden need, 'it's not obvious why these need to grow year after year,' said Thompson.
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The study didn't compare specific municipalities' revenues and spending, but information provided by the City of Calgary shows its consolidated expenses grew from $3.87 billion in 2018 to $4.658 billion in 2023, the latter a seven per cent increase over 2022.
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The city says the municipal share of its tax increases over 2021-2025 are 2.7 per cent, less than those in Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa.
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That has come amid considerable demographic growth, particularly in more recent years — increases that have brought Calgary's population to around 1.6 million, say city officials.
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Calgary has no choice but to maintain a cash reserve and even increase it for now, said Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot.
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'It's actually one of our requirements, to maintain the credit rating we have,' said Chabot.
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'Without that, our lending rate would go up exponentially.'
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Another challenge facing the city that's not entirely within its control is salaries, which make up 60 per cent of operating costs, with 50 per cent of those expenditures being union pay, he said.
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'We are not playing the same way as the average household (in cutting costs) — if we resist, we get taken to court and it could go to binding arbitration,' said Chabot.
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He expressed confidence that reports show Calgary taxpayers do get good value for their money compared to those in other larger Canadian cities.
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But he said the city has been too quick to accept costly responsibilities downloaded onto it by the province, which has become an issue leading up to the municipal election in October.
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That downloading has ultimately added $176 million to city expenses annually, said Chabot.
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'We've automatically moved those into base budgeting which results in tax increases,' said Chabot, adding the city needs to strongly lobby the province on the matter.
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Ideally, the city would fund those responsibilities on a one-time basis before they're reassumed by the province.
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One example, he said, is the low-income transit pass that costs the city $54 million, with only $6 million of that picked up by the province.
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But Chabot said he's not satisfied with how a reorganization of city operations has been carried out, particularly the lack of transparency of how efficiencies are being enhanced.
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'I'm disappointed with what we've received from a communications standpoint and I'd like to get administration to share a report with the public,' he said.
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