Edmonton city council has approved a 5.7% municipal property tax levy increase for 2025, a move aimed at addressing ongoing financial pressures while continuing to provide essential city services.
The increase, finalized during council’s spring budget session, reflects efforts to balance rising costs with fiscal responsibility.
Last fall, council implemented $8.5 million in ongoing savings and other measures to help curb the need for a larger tax hike. Those efforts, along with recent changes to the provincial budget that partially restored Grants in Place of Taxes (GIPOT) payments, helped reduce the final increase from the previously approved 6.1%.
“The city continues to take fiscally responsible steps to manage the budget challenges we face and to minimize the impact of those challenges on the people we serve,” said Stacey Padbury, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy City Manager, Financial and Corporate Services.
“The challenges we face are complex and will take time to manage, but we’ve made progress this year by finding ways to reduce our spending and limit what we need to collect in property taxes, and by taking steps to bring our revenues in line with what it actually costs now to deliver the services that matter to Edmontonians.”
The increase will affect property owners differently based on their assessed property values. For instance, a home assessed at $465,500 in 2025 will see a monthly municipal tax bill of $296. That funding supports more than 70 city services, including emergency response, parks, roads, transit, recreation centres, attractions, and social services.
The tax levy funds more than half of Edmonton’s operating budget. A bylaw to set the finalized tax rates will be introduced next week. Property tax bills, which include both municipal and provincial education taxes, will be mailed on May 23, with payment due by June 30.
