The impending pressure of projected tax increases, and rise in polarization were two topics of focus in the mayor’s State of the City speech Wednesday.
Addressing event attendees at the Enjoy Centre, Mayor Cathy Heron explored the work council is looking to undertake in upcoming years.
The concrete goals — such as exploring and advancing servicing to Lakeview Business District, and moving forward with planning for Millennium Park — stem from council’s six strategic plan priorities: economic prosperity, downtown vibrancy, supporting community well-being, adapting to a changing natural environment, and financial sustainability.
Central to Heron's speech was the economic pressure the city is facing due to factors such as inflation, provincial downloading of infrastructure costs, and the lingering impacts of the COVID pandemic on revenues such as recreation fees and transit fares.
The city has outlined in recent weeks one-time measures it will be exploring come budget season to bring down a projected 8.2-per-cent tax increase, and plans to find service level reductions in future years to stave off additionally high projected tax increases in 2024 and 2025.
Heron noted times are difficult, with personal expenses on the rise.
“The last thing any of us wants is higher taxes, and to be honest, I don’t know how or if we’ll be able to avoid them,” Heron said.
The city has seen around 13-per-cent growth in the past decade, Heron said, but repeatedly opted for tax increases below inflation.
Heron emphasized the need to continue exploring new routes to generate revenue.
“If a new idea is brought forward, we need to look at it with a filter of ‘How we can make it work’ rather than the unreasonably popular assumption that it won’t work,” Heron said.
Last week, council heard a report from the city’s senior manager of utilities detailing how the city’s proposed solar farm project would not be economically viable. Following the presentation, council voted unanimously to rescind all motions related to the project.
“When a possible revenue generating project is scrapped, there should be no celebrating,” Heron said. “It’s not a win. It’s a loss for all of us.”
Mayor, CAO address ‘vitriol,’ ‘incivility’
Also a focus of Heron’s speech was the importance of working together amid difficult times.
“I want us to be strong — not to resort to incivility to achieve our goals," Heron said. "As we face the next few years of a fiscal crunch, balancing act of diverse needs, climate issues, social unrest, I’m calling on all of us in this room to be part of the solution."
Bill Fletcher, the city’s chief administrative officer, seconded Heron when addressing the crowd, adding that he has been “struck by the uncivil discourse that I’ve seen over the course of this job.”
“While it’s a minority, I’ve seen too many vitriolic emails and indemnifications of people who live in St. Albert on social media and otherwise,” Fletcher said.
“We can agree to disagree, but we should be respectful to other people, and we should trust one another.”
Fletcher said St. Albert is growing, and is “on the verge of becoming a very big city” in the next few years.
“We cannot rest on our laurels but rather we must embrace and shape our future, without losing the essence of community that makes St. Albert what it is,” Fletcher said. "That will take all of us working together."
