Lethbridge City Council has approved a new operating budget for 2023-2026. (Photo: LNN, November 22, 2022)

By Sarah Jones

Lethbridge City Council adopts 2023-2026 operating budget

Nov 30, 2022 | 6:40 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – After a week of budget deliberations, Lethbridge City Council has approved a new operating budget for 2023-2026.

On November 29, 2022, council voted unanimously to adopt the Economic Standing Policy Committee’s recommendations. Lethbridge residents can anticipate an average annual change in the municipal tax rate to 5.1% for each of the next four years.

That is equal to $129.93 per year per single-family house, based on an average market value of $285,800.

This is up from the operating budget’s initial proposal of 3.77%, but with additional initiatives, including a bump in funding for police services and community service groups, an extra 1.33% had to be added.

While the City of Lethbridge maintained a 0% increase to the municipal portion of residential taxes over the past three years, climbing inflation was a contributing factor to the increase.

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At Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Blaine Hyggen said, “If you look at the overall change from 2019 to 2026, the average increase is less than 2.8 per cent per year during that eight-year span.”

“The national inflation rate is also currently at 6.9 per cent,” he added. “I really want to thank Council and City Administration for making sound financial decisions for the betterment of our community.”

Part of the City of Lethbridge’s operation budget involves the day-to-day costs of delivering municipal services and programs like police, emergency services, streets, roads and parks.

Hyggen added that administration attempted to sharpen the pencil to get down to 0%.

“I know council took a rollback of 10 per cent, administration took a five per cent rollback, and there was an adjustment in staffing levels and even with service levels,” he said.

Hyggen continued, “One of the main things that was brought forward by far was public safety, and it was the number one concern that came to City Council within this budget.”

To address those concerns, .75% of the 5.1% increase will go toward public security and the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS). Although the 5.1% increase has been passed, Hyggen hopes they can reduce it in the future as they look for additional efficiencies.

The full list of recommendations from the Economic Standing Policy Committee can be found at the City of Lethbridge website.

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