12/04/2025
Edmonton City Council is still debating the budget this week but one major amendment is already shifting the numbers for homeowners.
Council voted 8–5 to increase Explore Edmonton operating expenditure budget by $11,000,000 on an ongoing basis for 2026 instead of one-time boost with that money coming from the tax levy.
This amendment raises the projected tax hike by 0.48%, bringing the total to approximately 6.88%. The original proposed tax increase was 6.4%.
Here’s the key context:
• The final vote on the overall budget and the tax rate most likely will happen Thursday but TBA.
• Wednesday’s amendment doesn’t finalize anything, but it does change the baseline.
• Explore Edmonton leverages the $11M into nearly $100M in outside funding, so the city gets a 10-to-1 return on its investment according to Councillor Aaron Paquette. (Raw Interviews with Paquette & Councillor Reed Clarke coming in following posts)
