WORKING ON Affordability

The cost-of-living is increasing while many wages are stagnant. For some residents, this is having a huge impact on their quality of life. For too many, it goes beyond that, impacting their access to essentials such as housing, nutritious food, and heating. Council needs to be sensitive to and looking for ways to address affordability challenges.

During my time on Council, I am proud of:

• Strong advocacy on the electricity costs file. While action still needs to be taken, the Premier has said publicly that this disparity is now a priority of the province and we can expect changes in the near future. This is largely due to strong advocacy by municipalities throughout the province. The City of Grande Prairie has been a leader in this advocacy and I have been able to contribute to it through my work with Alberta Municipalities.

• Keeping tax increases at about half the rate of inflation through finding operational efficiencies and decreasing low priority services

• The development of affordable housing in Cedar Point and Fletcher House. Working with Grande Spirit Foundation, Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Otipemisiwak Métis Government to get them land for future afforable housing projects.

• Successfully attracting four apartment builds which are underway right now. Introducing incentive programs and thoughtful Bylaw changes to increase residential units in the City.

• Introducing free youth transit for kids under 18 and free community events such as Experience GP and Grande North Winterfest

• Strongly supporting library and non-profit programs which provide free or low cost programs

  
  

Real Talk on Taxes:

I see some candidates talking about freezing or even reducing taxes. But I don’t see any talking about reducing services to accomplish this. I’d encourage you to ask them what their actual, specific plans are. Because I am skeptical. I think some either don’t understand the state of the City’s budget or they are hiding what they hope to do.

If you want a deep dive into how our budget has changed over the past ten years and how it compares to other Cities, here is a deep dive blog post.

Understanding Our Budget Pressures

Don’t get me wrong: we ALWAYS need to be looking for efficiency. But to have an honest conversation, we have to look at the facts. Our spending is in line with comparable cities (click here to see some benchmarks), and we are facing significant budget pressures beyond our direct control:

• Inflation. Just like families and businesses, the City’s costs are going up. It costs more every year to buy a fire hose, hire a lifeguard, or repave a section of road.

• Provincial and Federal Downloading. The province has drastically decreased its share of infrastructure funding (source). At the same time, the federal government has massively increased the costs for our RCMP contract: we have had to figure out how to finance rising police costs.

• New Services. Residents have wanted new services, which we have delivered. Examples include driveway windrow removal, the Mobile Outreach Program, and the new outdoor pool.

Despite these pressures, our record is strong. Over the last ten years, City taxes have only gone up by 12%. This is less than half the rate of inflation (26%) and just one-third of the average increase in other Alberta cities (33%).

This was accomplished through the hard work of City Administration and staff streamlining operations, and tough debates by Council to reduce spending on low priority programs. This work must continue. We always need to be working hard to give every dollar the most impact.

Fiscal Wall

However, that success has come at a cost. To keep tax increases low, Council has increasingly chosen to draw from City reserves to fund day-to-day operations.

I have often voted and argued against this practice. For example, in the last budget, Council chose to draw $2 million from reserves to keep taxes down. I voted against this, arguing that if Council wanted to reduce taxes by that amount, we needed to find $2 million in spending reductions instead.

Why? Because we can only draw from reserves for so long. The need to increase taxes or reduce spending doesn’t go away—it just gets pushed to future years, and the problem gets bigger.

We are now hitting a fiscal wall. Administration estimates that to maintain existing services in 2026 without drawing from reserves, a tax increase of approximately 7% would be needed.

My Plan: Efficiency, Growth, and Responsibility

A 7% tax increase would hurt families and businesses, and I don’t want that. But slashing services also hurts our community, especially the families who rely on them the most. I feel a great burden to make our community as affordable as possible for all residents, especially families that are struggling. But I’m also very conscious that those whose finances are challenged often see the least impact from tax increases but the most impact from service reductions.

We need a balanced and responsible path forward. Here is my commitment:

1. Laser-Focus on Efficiency: We must ensure we are maximizing the impact of every dollar. I will continue to champion initiatives like improving procurement, benchmarking salaries, measuring City performance, focusing on asset management, and creating long-term fiscal plans for major amenities. Council needs to have sustainable long-term plans and assurance that Administration is doing everything possible to be efficient.

2. Grow Other Revenue Sources: We need to reduce the burden on residential taxpayers. I will push for strategies to grow our non-residential tax base through business attraction and to expand non-tax revenue sources.

3. End the Reliance on Reserves: We must stop kicking the can down the road. For the 2026 budget, we have to face the challenge head-on. We can’t draw from reserves to fund regular operations. In fact, we should be investing into reserves to make sure that we are prepared for future large costs.

My Position for Budget 2026

The next budget will be challenging. I don’t know where I will ultimately land, because it depends on the options presented and what I hear from you.

However, I cannot support the deep service cuts that would be required to achieve a 0% tax increase. Taking away services that families rely on does not sit well with me. At a minimum, I believe taxes will likely need to increase to cover inflation plus the $2 million we drew from reserves in 2025. However, we should be prepared to dig into service levels and cut where appropriate. We need to minimize any tax increases by cutting services that are low priority or low impact.

Giving you this perspective on taxes is likely terrible campaign strategy. Saying “I want to lower taxes while making the City do more for you” would be well received messaging by many. But I think it is important to respect voters by being transparent. This is my honest assessment. I don’t like it. I don’t want to increase taxes. But this is where I think things sit.

As you read and think about this, I would love to hear from you. What questions do you have? Where do you agree with me? Where do you think I’m out to lunch? What ways do you see that the City can save money or reduce low priority services? And what services do you think should be preserved no matter what? I’d love to talk over email (dylan@bressey.ca), social media, or the phone to either hear your thoughts, or setup a time to meet for coffee and really hash things out.

Do you have questions, ideas, or feedback? I’d love to hear from you! Find me on social media (@DylanBresseyGP) or click here to contact me.