Calgary city council voted in favour of a $6.5 billion capital investment, which city administration says is required to address the need of Calgary’s aging infrastructure and it's going to cost all Calgarians major increases to their water bills over the next four and a half years, at minimum. Administration called it an 'investment program' during council's Tuesday meeting, adding, “Past utility rates have not kept pace with the level of investment needed to address infrastructure risk. The timing is important: delaying investment would increase the risk of service disruptions, emergency repairs, higher long-term costs and reduced capacity to support Calgary’s growth." In its presentation to council, administration recommended rate charges for 2027 through to 2030 would average a yearly increase of 19.9% for drinking water, 15.2% for wastewater and 5.8% for stormwater services. All of the services are funded through utility rates and levies, not property taxes. The increased rates will vary throughout different servicing needs: For metered residential homes, the average monthly bill in 2026 is $119.21, rising to $133.71 in 2027, $153.76 in 2028, $174.24 in 2029, and $206.94 in 2030, The monthly multi-family building rate currently averages $2,503.38, increasing to $2,860.76 in 2027, $3,383.55 in 2028, $3,957.69 in 2029 and $4,631.40 in 2030..Average monthly general services will go from $1,661.33 in 2026 to $1,908.47 in 2027, $2,255.78 in 2028, $2,640.88 in 2029 and $3,093.in 2030. Large general service monthly bills average $40,914.46, rising to $49,085.74 in 2027, $58,191.43 in 2028, $68,212.59 in 2029 and $79,991.54 in 2030. Prior to the vote, Mayor Jeromy Farkas spoke about the lack of maintenance that has led to the deteriorating infrastructure, saying, "We're looking back over the last 10 years, 20 years, and we are asked who could have known this? Why didn't they come to city council? Why didn't the city administration do something? Why didn't the elected officials do something?" Addressing general manager Michael Thompson, Farkas asked, "Do you, in your professional opinion, believe that these investments are necessary? I understand that you can't promise in the future that nothing is breaking. However, are you standing here warning us about the risks, should we not invest?" "Yes," said Thompson. "And should we not approve the schedule for capital projects is the frequency of boil water advisories, feeder main breaks and other breakdowns, more likely, should we not invest in this?" asked Farkas. "We've been in one solid year of emergency response," said Thompson. "That is not typical. We weren't in that before and so we need to make this investment to restore that system going forward.".Addressing council, Farkas said, "This is our accountability model. Should there be major failures in the future and we have heard in good faith from the professional expertise, the warnings from our expert administration that this is strictly necessary." The vote to accept administration's recommendation was 9 to 6, with Councillors Johnston, Ward, Tyers, Wyness, McLean and Jameson opposed
