Deliberations begin for City of Lethbridge’s 2027 operating budget

The City of Lethbridge’s community issues committee has begun early discussions to shape the 2027 operating budget.

The City of Lethbridge’s Community Issues Committee (CIC) is meeting Wednesday and Thursday to develop an operating budget for 2027.

They’re tasked finding savings and efficiencies where possible to reduce any tax increases.

They’ll be working to set a one-year budget instead of the usual four. This brief change will allow future councillors to vote on an operating and capital budget in a single term.

“We wanted to have the opportunity for council members to be able to take part in both an operating and a capital budget,” said Lethbridge mayor Blaine Hyggen.

“Sometimes that was difficult because with (those meetings) being every four years, sometimes they didn’t have that. In doing this now council members will be able to vote.”

The city has asked department managers to look for areas they can cut spending to lower the originally planned 3.5 per cent property tax increase.

“Those reduction initiatives actually take us down from 3.53 percent down to 2.65, 2.7 per cent, depending on if they approved them all,” said Lethbridge chief financial officer Darrell Mathews.

City officials say the one-year budget provides an interesting challenge for councillors who aren’t used to such short-term planning.

“It’s not line items going forward generally. They are just to take us to the next operating budget. So that gives us the opportunity to prepare for the next budget. But also, we have community to run,” Hyggen said.

Several outside forces have put pressure on the city’s finances in recent years.

Inflation, Excite Lethbridge and encampment enforcement were just some of the costs needing to be handled.

“Things like photo radar changes, which was a large impact for the community of $2.2 million. We also had body worn cameras legislation that came in that’s an additional $800,000,” Mathews said.

The allocations put forward by the CIC will still need final approval by city council before being implemented.