As city council prepares for budget deliberations later this year, a report from administration outlines the highest and lowest priorities for Edmontonians. According to the report, which data comes from in-person budget engagement sessions across the city’s 12 wards, Edmontonians identify winter road and pathway maintenance a top priority with fire services and funding for the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) following close behind, respectively. Environment and climate was the lowest priority next to arts, culture, tourism, inclusion and economic development, and neighbourhood renewal. The city reported that 413 people participated in sessions on the 2027-30 budget cycle. Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said he was somewhat surprised by so many respondents wanting to prioritize funding for EPS amid concerns of public safety. “I hear from businesses and residents and others that there are certain functions they absolutely want police for, and others that don’t,” said Janz at city hall Tuesday.“To see Edmontonians saying we should still be generously funding police, just maybe not as much, and putting that funding toward other services to mitigate crime and calls for service is completely consistent with what I’ve heard.” Janz is among other leaders, such as Mayor Andrew Knack, who think the engagement survey is just one data point among many that need to be looked at in order to get a better idea of what Edmontonians expect in the next budget cycle. “That’s important information, but we need to remember that when we’re going into a budget exercise, we have to try to engage as many different people as possible to hear the greatest diversity of perspectives,” said Knack. Survey language With arts, culture, tourism, inclusion and economic development coming in as a second-last priority for Edmontonians, Ward sipiwiyiniwak Coun. Thu Parmar called on administration to develop clearer language for surveys going forward. “A lot of the time the city will put out a survey that is in their own language or in how the budget is calculated,” said Parmar. “That’s not what Edmontonians are looking for. Edmontonians are looking for snow removal, they are looking for pathway change, they’re looking for summer sweeps. “They are not looking to see if arts, culture, inclusion and economic development is a priority.” The first-term councillor said the word “inclusion” can be divisive. “I think that it didn’t align with the expectation of what council really wanted to hear back.” $500K surplus Council also heard Tuesday of a projected surplus of nearly half-a-million dollars in a second quarter report. Knack said Q2 reports don’t get him particularly excited, as there are still six months left in the fiscal year, but the projected surplus is a positive. “Any projected surplus is good for the projected year end, but lots of things to still navigate,” said the mayor. He noted that the Q2 report came out before Edmonton saw record-breaking rainfall that put pressure on city infrastructure and services, which could impact Q3 and Q4 reports. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
