New Alberta Municipalities president looking for ‘transparency,’ partnership with province

Dylan Bressey on Alberta Primetime Nov 19, 2025

Newly elected Alberta Municipalities president Dylan Bressey joins Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins to discuss the organization’s recent convention and his motivations for running for president.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: During the fall convention, there was a renewed push for the provincial government to take control of collecting its own education property tax. Why did this particular issue drive considerable discussion?

Dylan Bressey: I want to be really clear on that: the ask of our members is the province collect its own property taxes. We’re still more than willing to collect our own property taxes. Really what that’s about for our members is achieving transparency with Albertans.

Over the next three years, the province is going to be collecting about a billion dollars more in property taxes than it already is. It’s a 14-per cent increase we’re seeing this year, and a 10-per cent increase next year to provincial property taxes.

Our members really want to make sure that Albertans understand where those tax increases are coming from and what level of government is responsible when it impacts their pocket books.

MH: The resolution passed with 80 per cent support. How far does that go with the provincial government?

DB: For us it really is about transparency in what’s going on with Alberta’s property taxes. We’ve launched what’s called the “Property Tax Reimagined” campaign to help Albertans understand what’s driving municipal costs and what’s driving the bills they see.

The big priority of our members is that Albertans understand what’s going on with the fiscal situation of local communities. Local councils are doing really hard work to spend every dollar as efficiently as possible and get the best bang for investment. They’re also facing some real cost challenges including provincial policy changes that are removing revenue, increasing costs, and also taking up tax room through the education property taxes.

MH: Taxation drew a lot of attention, including a resolution from Airdrie calling for implementation of an accommodation tax. How much of a difference could that make to municipalities’ bottom lines?

DB: It really could help some municipalities thrive and adapt to some changing realities. Really what that resolution was about was municipal autonomy.

That wasn’t saying every municipality is going to start collecting tourism tax. It was saying for municipalities where it makes sense, they should have the right to find solutions to the challenges that we’re all facing — local solutions that make sense for their community.

MH: The Danielle Smith government is engaging in consultations ahead of the 2026 budget. What are the priorities municipalities are advocating for?

DB: We were really excited to see the premier as well as a number of ministers at our convention. We really want that strong partnership with the provincial government.

We have a whole bunch of priorities that impact municipalities directly. One thing I was especially excited to see was Premier Smith committing to advocating for an increase to family and community support services funding.

That funds preventative services in our community that take care of residents, and also save taxpayers a lot of money in the long run. Prevention is always more cost effective than intervention. That funding is really needed in every community, from our large cities that are really grappling to keep up with growth, to our smallest villages that have never had an adequate safety net.

We need that preventative funding to get out to our community, so it’s really exciting to see Premier Smith commit to advocating for that, and we’re excited to see what happens in the budget.

MH: Turning to your new leadership role, why seek to become president of Alberta Municipalities? What direction do you plan to take the organization?

DB: I absolutely love this province and I want to have a safe, prosperous, amazing place for all Albertans to live. The bedrock of that is having thriving local communities. I also know we have councils made up of really dedicated, really passionate people who have really diverse experiences they bring to the table.

I think they’re doing an amazing job serving their communities, so I’m excited to help champion their voices and help develop the resources they need to thrive at their council tables. I really do believe it’s at the local level that we’re going to build a prosperous Alberta for everybody.

MH: On that point, this is quite a time of transition given turnover on councils in the wake of the October elections.

DB: It is, we’ve had about a 40-per cent turnover of our councillors. At the same time, we’ve got a relatively new minister of municipal affairs, who, at our convention, talked about needing to see a slight reset with our members while also developing strong partnership with us.

There’s a lot of opportunity right now, to develop stronger partnerships with the province that will enable local solutions to come to the table and really drive investment in this province. I’m excited about the opportunities we have to work with this minister and help our local councils thrive.

MH: What is it about Grande Prairie churning out leadership for this organization? Past presidents include the late [12-term councillor] Helen Rice and former Mayor Bill Given.

DB: I’m definitely aware I’ve got big footsteps as Grande Prairie guy coming to the board table. We’ve had great leaders from our region.

It’s not just about the city of Grande Prairie. We have an entire region up in the Peace Country that really does believe that in collaboration. Our city works great with counties, with towns, builders in the region. That’s just the spirit of the north.

We need to work together to make each other successful and all of Alberta successful. When that’s the culture you’re working in, it’s really easy to step up into leadership roles and say, “Hey, I really do want to do something for all of Alberta.”