Tuesday’s federal budget announcement will mean more money is allocated to local municipalities, which is exactly what they have been asking for, says Edmonton’s mayor.
The 2019 budget by the Liberal federal government designates a $2.2 billion top up to municipalities through the Gas Tax Fund.
Edmonton’s mayor, Don Iveson, called the funding “a huge gesture of confidence in local governments.”
Effectively, the budget measure means more infrastructure money will be provided directly to cities, rather than it being filtered through provinces.
Municipalities were already set to receive $2.2 billion through the fund.
Edmonton’s share of the additional money is equal to $51 million in 2019.
“What we use the Gas Tax for traditionally is paying the debt on the south LRT, but we'll be able to take this extra $51 million and put it towards pressing priorities in this infrastructure cycle that we weren't able to meet in the tough budget deliberations before Christmas,” Iveson said.
Council will decide which projects the money is used on.
On behalf of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus, Iveson also praised the federal government for their $1 billion investment in the Green Municipal Fund. The fund sees money allocated to communities by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to improve energy efficiency in civic buildings and homes.
The $1 billion is broken into three chunks: $350 million for community projects, $300 million for municipal projects that support home energy efficiency retrofits, and $300 million to support affordable housing developments.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
