Alberta Municipalities delegates have voted to urge the provincial government to reserve a guaranteed share of future budget surpluses for local infrastructure. The proposed framework would direct funding to projects according to need and construction readiness, in addition to money municipalities receive through the Local Government Fiscal Framework.

At the organization’s fall meeting on Thursday, 558 delegates voted, with 91 per cent supporting the resolution. Alberta Municipalities, also known as ABMunis, advocates for more than 300 municipalities in the province. The resolution asks the organization to press the province to establish the funding framework.

The resolution was co-sponsored by the cities of Airdrie, Leduc and Lethbridge, and the towns of Cochrane and Okotoks. Seven other municipalities seconded it. It does not specify what proportion of a surplus should go to municipal infrastructure.

The resolution’s background section says Alberta has recorded 13 budget surpluses since 2000. It argues that a legislated share would respond to the province’s fiscal capacity while supporting provincial and municipal infrastructure priorities. A quarter of the 2024-25 surplus, estimated in the background material at $8.3 billion, would amount to about $2.1 billion. The province has not released its final figures for the fiscal year that ended March 31.

Airdrie Mayor Heather Spearman told the mayors and councillors gathered on Thursday that Premier Danielle Smith had raised the idea at two earlier Alberta Municipalities meetings. Spearman said additional funding “would support both growth infrastructure and the renewal of aging systems.”

The issue comes amid concerns about a municipal infrastructure shortfall. In February, ABMunis said funding in the provincial budget tabled that month left municipalities facing a $1 billion infrastructure gap. ABMunis president Dylan Bressey, a Grande Prairie city councillor, told reporters on Wednesday that addressing the gap was key to the provincial economy.

“If you want to secure our economy, you need to support the roads, the pipes, and the other local infrastructure that drives our productivity,” Bressey said. He said the province was on track for a $2-billion surplus in the current 2026-27 fiscal year and that he had asked for 10 per cent, or $200 million, to go to municipal infrastructure spending.

“We want to get this money out the door. We don’t want to introduce a ton of bureaucracy for it. We also want to make sure that every community benefits,” Bressey said.

The Municipal Affairs minister’s office said it would review resolutions passed at the conference. In a statement, the office argued that municipalities already share in provincial surpluses through the existing framework, which it said would provide $800 million this fiscal year. “When Alberta’s revenues grow, so does funding for local infrastructure.”

With the resolution passed, Alberta Municipalities said it would forward it to the province for a response. The proposal calls for a new, legislated allocation while the government says the current framework already links local infrastructure funding to provincial revenues.

Based on reporting by Edmonton Journal.