Two Calgary councillors have complementary Notices of Motion coming to council that would help address the city’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and maintenance gap.

The Notices of Motion call for a review of current funds, potential funding sources and the development of clear criteria for prioritizing infrastructure investment projects, and the creation of a 10-year rolling capital plan to execute on the delivery of projects.

According to the latest City of Calgary Infrastructure Status Report (2020), there was a $7.73 billion gap in funding needed over the next 10-year horizon. Further, it showed that the percentage of assets in poor or very poor condition went from 2.3 per cent to seven per cent.

A 2022 corporate asset management report still showed seven per cent in poor condition, but showed a jump in assets that were in fair condition from 11 per cent to 15 per cent.

Ward 2 Coun. Jennifer Wyness said she wants to see a 10-year rolling capital plan that can consistently chip away at the city’s infrastructure deficit without the focus on “ribbon cutting.”

“I need council to understand that we need the organization to stop thinking of four-year cycles. It doesn’t allow us to invest appropriately,” she told LWC.

“There’s no real prioritization, which makes it harder for those in the organization to understand. They seem to be responding more to a council crisis creation than actually being able to anticipate a big capital project expenditure.”

Calgary does have a list of unfunded capital and maintenance projects that it draws upon to make decisions when funding is available. Wyness wants to see a formalized list that’s a part of the long-term planning for Calgary and she’d like to see a preliminary list for this November’s budget.

Wyness also wants to see its use implemented in the annual budgeting adjustment process.

Decisions have been made recently to use one-time funds or Fiscal Stability Reserve to tackle projects like the Inglewood pool emergency upgrades, improving road repairs, and the recent announcement about maintenance for recreation-related facilities.

Funding the infrastructure

While Coun. Wyness wants the projects identified, the Notice of Motion coming from Ward 12 Coun. Evan Spencer wants a plan in place to have funds to close the growing infrastructure gap.

“We need to tackle the gap.

“I wouldn’t say right now that council has seen a concise roadmap for how to begin to tackle the gap, because it has real-life, service-level implications as that gap grows.”

Spencer wants to see the city identify sources of funding, including (but not limited to) utility rates, grants, property taxes, user fees and project reprioritization. He’d also like the city to have a clear criterion for prioritization of infrastructure reinvestment.

“There’s many mouths to feed within administration here, and all of them have their own ways to make sure that they’re prioritized,” he said.

“Every budget cycle, a lot of the prioritization happens at the ELT (Executive Leadership Team) Level, and then it trickles down to council.”

Spencer would also like to see better reinvestment work that matches with redevelopment opportunities to minimize the cost of future capital outlays. There’s also a component of this that pushes other orders of government to step up funding, highlighting the economic benefit of proper maintenance.

That also may mean a bigger cost to bear for Calgarians. Spencer’s Notice of Motion has also proposed a near doubling of the amount of property tax put into the Reserve for Future Capital and Lifecycle Maintenance from 2.6 per cent annual property tax funding to five per cent.

“Let’s make sure that we capitalize, we strike while the iron is hot and we get the best, most robust funding and line of sight in terms of connecting the dots from the infrastructure status report to the actual funding strategies that can continue to protect the quality of life we have here in Calgary,” he said.  

“But that’s going to come with a cost, and that’s going to be on taxpayers.”

Spencer would like to see a reinvestment report come back no later than Q3 2026, to be used as a part of the 2027-2030 four-year budget cycle.

The motions, if approved on technical merit, would still need debate and final approval at a future Calgary city council meeting.