Munis need more partnership and support, less direction

Submitted by Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis)

May 5, 2026

Your municipal government works hard every day to give you and your family important services. Local officials maintain and repair your roads, make sure your water and sewer systems work, plan your neighborhoods, and help you and your neighbours during emergencies. Increasingly, they also help provide social services and other community needs.

While local governments are doing more, the Government of Alberta is making choices that limit how much your community can decide its own future. Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis) is concerned that these changes make it harder for your local council to help you, especially when new provincial laws don’t suit the needs of smaller towns and cities in Alberta.

Take Bill 28, the Municipal Affairs and Housing Statutes Amendment Act, 2026. We like some of the proposed changes for councillor accountability and governance, but we worry that some of the proposed new rules will make it harder for local councils to make decisions on issues like property taxes, utilities, and community growth. The financial and operational impacts of Bill 28 aren’t clear yet, creating uncertainty for your community.

This is especially difficult because municipalities are already dealing with higher costs, population growth, and inflation. Provincial funding hasn’t kept up, and when new rules are made without consulting local leaders, municipal governments must resort to increases from their primary revenue source: property taxes. This means your property taxes may go up to cover the related costs. That’s why ABmunis started the Property Taxes Reimagined campaign: to help people understand that property taxes now pay for services beyond what local councils used to do, making things tougher for communities like yours.

Municipal leaders across Alberta bring valuable local insights that could make new rules more effective. So, local governments need to help create new rules, have early and open talks with the provincial and federal governments, and make sure there’s a clear plan to pay for any new tasks they’re given.

Alberta is strong because its communities are vibrant, resilient, and tenacious. Democracy works best when decisions are made by people who live nearby, and when your community is treated as a true partner in building Alberta’s future.

Alberta Municipalities, along with its 264 member communities, wants to work with the Alberta and Canadian governments. Real partnership takes trust, respect, and listening. Protecting your community’s independence means making sure every village, town, and city in Alberta continues to be a welcoming and supportive place to live and work.

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