Calgary,
14
November
2018
|
13:02
America/Denver

City of Calgary releases proposed 2019-2022 Service Plans and Budgets for public review

Today, The City of Calgary released One Calgary 2019-2022 Service Plans and Budgets for public review. As part of The City’s regular cycle of municipal elections and business planning, One Calgary is the proposed four-year strategic plan and budget for The City of Calgary, connecting day-to-day City operations and long-term goals within strategic direction and spending limits provided by City Council, to deliver on what’s important to Calgarians.

“Every four years, we deliver service plans and budgets that create a detailed roadmap for the coming years,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “Calgarians have told us what matters to them. This is a responsible budget focused largely on maintaining critical services while ensuring our property tax rates remain amongst the lowest in Canada.”

For 2019-2022, The City of Calgary is planning and budgeting differently – developing plans and budgets by service instead of organizational structure. The City’s 61 services are what matters most to citizens and they want to know the cost of those services, the value they are getting for their tax dollars, and how we’re investing in the services important to them. Created to deliver on strategic directives set by City Council in January 2018, the proposed plans and budgets represent approximately $22 billion in operating and capital investment for the next four years.

Some highlights of what is proposed for the next four-years include:

  • The proposed plans and budgets deliver on all Citizen Priorities and Council Directives and fall within the indicative rates set by Council and the available capital funding capacity.
  • To maintain our strong financial position through economic recovery, the proposed plans and budgets also include $40 million in anticipated efficiencies, plus a commitment to achieve a further $60 million for a total of $100 million in efficiency savings for 2019-2022. 
  • To determine where to focus investments for the next four years, 275,000 plus engagements with citizens were held to better understand what they value most about City services, and what the impacts of where we are proposing to invest more, less or the same would be for them.
  • Significant targeted operating investments are proposed for Public Transit, Streets, Police Services, Sidewalks & Pathways and Affordable Housing.
  • Targeted service investments in 14 new communities are proposed to demonstrate Calgary is open for business. Additionally, targeted investments in 27 actively developing communities are proposed to deliver services that support the continued growth of these communities.
  • The proposed property tax rates of 3.45% for 2019, and 3% for 2020 to 2022 would have a monthly impact to the typical household averaging around $5 per month.

“Calgary is in a period of economic recovery and there remain challenges and opportunities to improve quality of life for Calgarians for 2019-2022, and beyond,” says Carla Male, Chief Financial Officer. “This budget is mainly focused on continuing to deliver the same quality of services to citizens, while working within our limited ability to add a few investments in high priority areas.”

Visit calgary.ca/yourservices to see the full plans and budgets, Council’s direction, information on each of The City’s services, and “What we heard” reports from citizen engagement.

Council will consider the proposed plans and budgets for approval during deliberations beginning November 26, 2018. Citizens have an opportunity to share their feedback with City Council before deliberations by email or dropping off a letter between Nov. 14 and 21, or in person at the Nov.26 Public Hearing.

For more information, visit http://www.calgary.ca/cfod/finance/Pages/Plans-Budgets-and-Financial-Reports/Plans-and-Budget-2019-2022/Give-your-feedback.aspx

-30 -