While Finance Minister Nate Horner highlighted investments in infrastructure like roads and bridges in Budget 2026, rural Alberta municipalities say it’s nowhere near enough.

“We’re really concerned about the cost of that,” said Dylan Bressey, president of Alberta Municipalities.

“Our kids are going to have to pay if we allow our roads to crumble and our pipes to collapse.”

Much of that renewal cost is funded through the Local Government Fiscal Framework, which was reduced by $20 million this budget because it is tied to provincial government revenue.

The province is forecasting a $9.4-billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year

“I know that the needs are real, but you can see where we’re at with this deficit and needing to continue to prioritize,” Horner said on Thursday.

Bressey said the formula for the provincial fund works, but that it simply has never had enough to go around in the first place.

Kara Westerlund, president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, said the association estimates the infrastructure deficit for rural Alberta is around $17 billion and could grow to more than $25 billion. 

“We expect that growth if there’s not a cash injection in our communities, which we didn’t see in this budget,” she said.

Westerlund also pointed to less than anticipated funding to pay for rural community infrastructure.

The province’s Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program gives money to small and medium-sized municipalities to renew transportation assets. 

That budget item came in about $10 million less than what the province targeted for 2026-27 last year.

Westerlund said investments into rural infrastructure pay themselves off in the long run — it’s how industry gets its products to market.

“It truly will be a missed opportunity to build and continue to contribute to the economic future of the province,” she said.

Property taxes and policing

The amount of property taxes the province charges to pay for education is going up this year in order to pay for about a third of provincial education operating costs.

Westerlund said municipalities are often blamed for that line item on people’s property tax bill, despite having no control over them.

“It is increasingly incredibly annoying for municipalities,” she said.

Bressey said he doesn’t understand why the province wants to use property taxes instead of other forms of revenue.

“The problem with property taxes is they are a form of taxation that doesn’t go down when people’s or family’s incomes decrease or when businesses struggle,” he said.

“The provincial government has been touting Alberta’s low personal and corporate taxes, but has failed to mention the significant increases it has made to provincial property taxes.”

Both Westerlund and Bressey also took issue with increasing policing costs for municipalities. 

The province announced changes to its police funding model in December, saying it was required to address the increasing costs of providing law enforcement in smaller communities. 

At the time, Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis said the move aligns with feedback the province has received from municipalities. He said the new formula offers a predictable funding model.

Westerlund said for some communities, it amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars more per year, which means hiking taxes or cutting service.

“It doesn’t sound like a lot when you’re talking about governments and money, but to municipalities, that is massive.”