FAQs
- Property tax
- User fees and rates
- Revenues from profit centres (selling land, or electricity to the grid)
- Government of Alberta
- Grants
- Investment income (interest from reserves)
- Municipal
- Land Development & Real Estate
- Rate-Based Utilities
- Energy Production
- Operating
- Capital
- Tier 1: Base Operating and Sustaining Capital (keep things as they are)
- Tier 2: Operating Initiatives and Growth (get better and grow)
- Tier 3: Other Items (debt servicing, etc.)
- Inflation
- Aging infrastructure
- Wage pressures
- Stagnant populations growth
- Declining revenues from intergovernmental grants
- Abandonment and reclamation obligations of our natural gas wells
- Federal net-zero carbon regulations are pressuring the nation's electrical systems to be carbon-neutral by 2035, calling into question the long-term profitability of our electrical assets
- During the pandemic, Medicine Hat's planned tax increases of 4% per year were cancelled for two years, leaving us unable to keep up with inflation
Where does the City's budget come from?
There are multiple revenue streams that contribute to the City's overall budget:
How is the City's budget structured?
For a detailed explanation, we've dedicated a full article to this topic. Check it out on our news feed.
Generally, the City of Medicine Hat's finances are split into four distinct business units:
Each business unit above will include two different types of budgets:
The City further classifies those budgets as follows:
What's the difference between a Capital Expense and a Major Operating Expense (MOE)?
answer here
Is Medicine Hat in the same financial position as other cities?
In the fall of 2023, the City of Edmonton projected it would reach a $73.8 million deficit by the end of 2023 and the City of Calgary announced it faces an average annual funding gap of $311 million.
In January 2024, the City of Toronto proposed a 10.5% property tax increase which could balloon to 16.5% if the federal government doesn't step in.
What challenges are municipalities facing today?
Many municipalities are struggling with:
What challenges are specific to Medicine Hat?
The City of Medicine Hat has always been unique. Here are some of the challenges we face locally:
Early estimates of these future considerations are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, making the earnings of our energy business in the past few years appear rather inconsequential.