Latest news with #MichaelJanz
Calgary Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Edmonton breaks ground on $1.3B Capital Line South LRT expansion
The latest expansion project for Edmonton's sprawling LRT lines broke ground on Thursday, that will, once completed, connect the current Heritage Valley transit centre on Ellerslie Road to Century Park by way of 111 Street. Article content Article content With plans to construct one underpass, two overpasses, and two additional LRT stations, the project is expected to take about five years to build and cost nearly $1.4 billion, barring any overruns on time or budget. The Capital Line South LRT expansion was prioritized in the city's ongoing transit buildout to accommodate what it expects will be 15,000 daily riders once complete because of the area's ballooning population. Article content Article content 'We are growing as a city. We have had over 140,000 people move here in the last three years. We're going to be a city of 1.25 million people projected by the end of this year. We can't stop building transit. We can't stop building ways for people to move,' said Edmonton's deputy mayor and ward papstew Coun. Michael Janz at the groundbreaking ceremony. Article content 'Alberta's provincial government is pleased to have committed $365 million in provincial funding for this project. Now this total includes a recent approval at the city's request to reallocate $41 million in provincial funding from the Metro Line and the Valley Line West LRT projects to support this Phase One of the Capital Line South LRT project,' Dreeshen said. Article content Article content Phase One of the project will add a high-floor LRT connecting the existing Century Park LRT station and spanning 4.5 km to the Heritage Valley Transit Centre, which is currently a park and ride, but will also get an LRT station as part of the expansion. The expansion includes an underpass under 111 Street and 23 Avenue as well as two new bridges over Blackmud Creek and Anthony Henday Drive. Phase one will also add an operations and maintenance facility on the south side of Anthony Henday Drive and a Twin Brooks LRT station. Article content Article content Dreeshen said the province's support for Edmonton's LRT projects ties into the Alberta government's plans to create an 'optimal passenger rail system' for Alberta. Further, he said the province expects to have a passenger rail master plan completed by the summer, which will outline a 15-year plan to create commuter and regional rail services around the province, including connecting Edmonton and Calgary's mass transit systems.
CBC
30-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
City council approves 5.7% tax increase, wants education levy split from property tax
Edmonton city council finalized the municipal property tax increase at 5.7 per cent Wednesday, while council members pointed fingers at the province for an increase in its education tax. Council passed a motion on Wednesday to have city administration work with Alberta Municipalities to explore how to separate the provincial education tax collection from municipal property tax. The motion was put forward by Coun. Michael Janz and passed 9-4 with Tim Cartmell, Sarah Hamilton, Karen Principe and Jennifer Rice voting against the motion. The motion initially included another directive that Mayor Amarjeet Sohi send an invoice to the Alberta government for the entire education property tax collection cost but it was struck from the motion before the final vote. "We frequently get told to stay in our lane, and I'm growing increasingly frustrated that we are, as municipalities, kind of the proverbial punching bag," Janz told council. "We've been advocating for the province to pay their grants in lieu of taxes. We've been advocating for the province to pay a number of things that are costs that we bear for them." Education tax In Canada, public education is the responsibility of provincial governments. The provincial education portion of property taxes, about $98 per month or 25 per cent of the total property tax bill for a typical single detached property, goes to fund schools in Alberta, according to the City of Edmonton. The municipal and provincial education taxes change at different rates each year, and are added together to make up the total tax amount property owners must pay. The tax makes up 29 per cent of the education operating budget. But the provincial government has said it wants to raise the tax so it would make up 31.5 per cent of that funding in fiscal 2025 and 33 per cent in fiscal 2026. Sohi said he wants the financial breakdown to be clear for Edmontonians. "The principle should be, the government responsible for taxing people should be sending them the bill to collect that tax, not another order of government," Sohi said. "We are required to collect taxes on behalf of the province that directly go to the province, but city council gets the blame for that tax, particularly at a time when people are struggling with the affordability crisis." CBC has requested further comment from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Tax increase With the 5.7 per cent increase, a homeowner will pay about $763 in municipal taxes in 2025 for every $100,000 of assessed home value, an increase of $51 from 2024. The median assessed value for a home in Edmonton is $465,500 this year, which would have a $3,550 bill in annual property taxes. "Eighty per cent of the services that people consume on a daily basis are delivered with that $3,550 that we collect to run a municipality. But people don't make that distinction, that one-quarter goes to the province," Sohi said. Property taxes in 2025 will generate more than $2.2 billion to fund the 70 city services, including parks, trails, roads, bridges, transit, recreation centres, attractions, emergency services and social supports. The 5.7 per cent increase is lower than the 6.1 per cent increase that council approved in December. Council's motion will be brought forward as a resolution during Alberta Municipalities's fall convention this year.
CBC
25-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Community Revitalization Levy sparks debate over use of public funds for private projects
Social Sharing The Community Revitalization Levy is in the spotlight for the millions of dollars it could provide to infrastructure projects in Edmonton. But concerns have been raised over the use of public funds for private projects, like a proposed event park being built in partnership between the City of Edmonton, the province and OEG Sports and Entertainment. A CRL is a tool that allows cities to take any tax revenue that would come from new development in a particular area, and then use that revenue to pay for the cost of borrowing for approved CRL projects. Catalyst projects — those expected to bring more people and businesses to an area — can be funded and approved by the province through a CRL. There are three CRL plans to fund projects in select areas: the Capital City Downtown CRL, Quarters Downtown and Belvedere. Council approved a motion 11 to 2 to extend the Capital City Downtown CRL by 10 years to 2044, with Coun. Michael Janz and Coun. Erin Rutherford voting against. What's proving to be a point of contention is determining which projects should be funded through the CRL, and which should be funded another way. Why millions of dollars are on the table for Edmonton with the community revitalization levy 12 hours ago Duration 3:32 The City of Edmonton, the Alberta government and OEG Inc. announced a $250 million dollar event park earlier this month. All three groups will share the costs for the park, with the city uses money from the community revitalization levy. But some city councillors are raising concerns over using public funds for private projects. The province, the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Oilers ownership group announced on March 7 that they were nearing an agreement that would pay for an event park beside Rogers Place and about 2,500 new attainable housing units north of Ice District. According to city administration, attainable housing — within the context of the CRL — would be at or below market value. City councillors debated this matter during two council meetings on March 18 and 19. Part of the Capital City Downtown CRL is also supposed to pay for the demolition of the Coliseum, the former home of the Oilers, located on the corner of 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive. Pending ongoing negotiations, including a public hearing, the total cost of all projects is $408 million. The event park has drawn the most scrutiny in the Capital City Downtown CRL plan. The park is estimated at $250 million with the funding breakdown as follows: $97 million from the province, $69 million from the City of Edmonton, through an extension of the CRL, and $84 million from the OEG. "If I had the choice between getting cash or gift cards, I always choose cash, flexibility, and here we are getting a gift card to the OEG store," said Janz, questioning why funding was tied to financial partnership with the OEG. Said Rutherford: "I am going to err on the side of leaning into my own values and not over intellectualize this, and say, at the end of the day, there are things that I cannot entertain in that extension, and they're not just even the ones with the OEG. "They're also ones with the subsidies for the attainable housing, because quite frankly, I don't think public dollars should be going toward private subsidies." The Village at Ice District, which will contain the 2,500 housing units, is expected to cost around $68 million. The costs for that will also be split and include $31 million from the province, $33 million from the City of Edmonton, through the CRL, and $3 million from the OEG. Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, told CBC there is infrastructure that desperately needs to be funded to have work completed. "Unfortunately, it's become fairly politicized in Edmonton, this question of extending our CRL, but we have infrastructure that is quite literally crumbling in our downtown," McBryan said. "Whether you're looking at you know that last stretch of Jasper Avenue, between 102nd Street to 109th Street, or the entrances to our LRT stations, infrastructure that's older than I am that desperately needs renewal." McBryan said if the CRL extension did not go through then the city would have to borrow for infrastructure improvements. "And that becomes a tax burden on the entire city, because they have to borrow that through their regular capital budget." Going to a public hearing Tim Shipton, OEG's executive vice-president of external affairs, told CBC in a statement that the new event park will be unique and "one-of-a-kind in Canada." "Public infrastructure site serving investments will fund critical public infrastructure for the Village at Ice District development, adding much-needed housing while encouraging downtown revitalization," Shipton said. Shipton noted housing will be developed in partnership with multiple organizations and include "numerous housing typologies: purpose-built rentals, student, attainable, affordable, etc." A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs told CBC in a statement that the investment would will help spark Alberta's and the City of Edmonton's tourism sector, create good-paying jobs and drive economic growth. The statement said the provincial government is in support of authorizing the CRL extension. "We anticipate having all necessary approvals to do with this package in place later this year," the statement continued. Coun. Andrew Knack, who also expressed trepidation about the items tied to the CRL extension, put forward an amendment to the extension motion to independently verify a study by the OEG on the economic and public benefit of the event park and housing, which was passed. "I feel like I could have voted no right away, but I wanted to make sure that everyone in Edmonton had a chance to have a say about this," Knack said. Had the motion been voted down, the matter of the CRL could not have gone to a public hearing. "I think there is fear that if we were to say no to this particular funding for those particular projects, that the province would just remove all of the funding entirely and that it can be used toward something else. I'm not sure that's the case," Knack said. "I think if Edmontonians were quite clear that they have other more important priorities for that money in the downtown core, that that would hopefully allow the province the opportunity to say, hey, well, we still want to help revitalize downtown." A public hearing on the CRL is expected to be held in June.
CBC
25-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Community Revitalization Levy sparks debate into use of public funds for private projects
The Community Revitalization Levy is in the spotlight for the millions of dollars it could provide to infrastructure projects in Edmonton. But concerns have been raised over the use of public funds for private projects, like a proposed event park being built in partnership between the City of Edmonton, the province and OEG Sports and Entertainment. A CRL is a tool that allows cities to take any tax revenue that would come from new development in a particular area, and then use that revenue to pay for the cost of borrowing for approved CRL projects. Catalyst projects — those expected to bring more people and businesses to an area — can be funded and approved by the province through a CRL. There are three CRL plans to fund projects in select areas: the Capital City Downtown CRL, Quarters Downtown and Belvedere. Council approved a motion 11 to 2 to extend the Capital City Downtown CRL by 10 years to 2044, with Coun. Michael Janz and Coun. Erin Rutherford voting against. What's proving to be a point of contention is determining which projects should be funded through the CRL, and which should be funded another way. Why millions of dollars are on the table for Edmonton with the community revitalization levy 11 hours ago Duration 3:32 The City of Edmonton, the Alberta government and OEG Inc. announced a $250 million dollar event park earlier this month. All three groups will share the costs for the park, with the city uses money from the community revitalization levy. But some city councillors are raising concerns over using public funds for private projects. The province, the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Oilers ownership group announced on March 7 that they were nearing an agreement that would pay for an event park beside Rogers Place and about 2,500 new attainable housing units north of Ice District. According to city administration, attainable housing — within the context of the CRL — would be at or below market value. City councillors debated this matter during two council meetings on March 18 and 19. Part of the Capital City Downtown CRL is also supposed to pay for the demolition of the Coliseum, the former home of the Oilers, located on the corner of 118th Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive. Pending ongoing negotiations, including a public hearing, the total cost of all projects is $408 million. The event park has drawn the most scrutiny in the Capital City Downtown CRL plan. The park is estimated at $250 million with the funding breakdown as follows: $97 million from the province, $69 million from the City of Edmonton, through an extension of the CRL, and $84 million from the OEG. "If I had the choice between getting cash or gift cards, I always choose cash, flexibility, and here we are getting a gift card to the OEG store," said Coun. Janz questioning why funding was tied to financial partnership with the OEG. "I am going to err on the side of leaning into my own values and not over intellectualize this, and say, at the end of the day, there are things that I cannot entertain in that extension, and they're not just even the ones with the OEG," said Coun. Rutherford. "They're also ones with the subsidies for the attainable housing, because quite frankly, I don't think public dollars should be going toward private subsidies." The Village at Ice District, which will contain the 2,500 housing units, is expected to cost around $68 million. The costs for that will also be split and include $31 million from the province, $33 million from the City of Edmonton, through the CRL, and $3 million from the OEG. Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, told CBC there is infrastructure that desperately needs to be funded to have work completed. "Unfortunately, it's become fairly politicized in Edmonton, this question of extending our CRL, but we have infrastructure that is quite literally crumbling in our downtown," McBryan said. "Whether you're looking at you know that last stretch of Jasper Avenue, between 102nd Street to 109th Street, or the entrances to our LRT stations, infrastructure that's older than I am that desperately needs renewal." McBryan said if the CRL extension did not go through then the city would have to borrow for infrastructure improvements. "And that becomes a tax burden on the entire city, because they have to borrow that through their regular capital budget." Going to a public hearing Tim Shipton, OEG's executive vice-president of external affairs, told CBC in a statement that the new event park will be unique and "one-of-a-kind in Canada." "Public infrastructure site serving investments will fund critical public infrastructure for the Village at Ice District development, adding much-needed housing while encouraging downtown revitalization," Shipton said. Shipton noted housing will be developed in partnership with multiple organizations and include "numerous housing typologies: purpose-built rentals, student, attainable, affordable, etc." A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs told CBC in a statement that the investment would will help spark Alberta's and the City of Edmonton's tourism sector, create good-paying jobs and drive economic growth. The statement said the provincial government is in support of authorizing the CRL extension. "We anticipate having all necessary approvals to do with this package in place later this year," the statement continued. Coun. Andrew Knack, who also expressed trepidation about the items tied to the CRL extension, put forward an amendment to the extension motion to independently verify a study by the OEG on the economic and public benefit of the event park and housing, which was passed. "I feel like I could have voted no right away, but I wanted to make sure that everyone in Edmonton had a chance to have a say about this," Knack said. Had the motion been voted down, the matter of the CRL could not have gone to a public hearing. "I think there is fear that if we were to say no to this particular funding for those particular projects, that the province would just remove all of the funding entirely and that it can be used toward something else. I'm not sure that's the case," Knack said. "I think if Edmontonians were quite clear that they have other more important priorities for that money in the downtown core, that that would hopefully allow the province the opportunity to say, hey, well, we still want to help revitalize downtown." A public hearing on the CRL is expected to be held in June.
CBC
24-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Edmonton looking at ways to help bus riders spend less time in traffic: city report
The City of Edmonton is considering a host of measures to help make some bus routes more efficient, after new metrics showed riders on several top routes are spending too much time sitting in traffic while on board. City administration is weighing measures that would allow buses to bypass problem intersections, including adding bus lanes, changing traffic signals and implementing parking restrictions. "I see it; many of the buses right now are standing room only. We've hit record numbers of transit riders," Coun. Michael Janz told CBC News. Provincial population estimates suggest nearly 1.2 million people lived in Edmonton in 2024. The city's population has risen by about 117,000 since 2022, data shows, putting more pressure on traffic and transit services as a result. Ridership increased 15 per cent from 2023 to 2024. It's up 12 per cent from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report that will be submitted to the city's urban planning committee at an upcoming meeting. "When you have a full bus of people standing there, sitting behind a few cars that may only have one or two people in them, that's not really fair to the folks on the bus. That's not really enticing to try and get more people out of cars onto the bus," Janz said. A misconception he often hears is that measures like bus lanes slow traffic down, he said. But the goal is to make transit more efficient and desirable, so that there are fewer motor vehicles on the road. Daniel Witte, chair of the Edmonton Transit Riders, a local advocacy group, described the program as "one of the most important" the city has taken on to speed up transit. He's excited to see specific solutions for nine priority transit corridors that were identified as hotspots for bus delays. "We really like these targeted measures because they're able to look very specifically at somewhere that may have otherwise been left behind, or forgotten about, and apply the measures that we really need," Witte said. The city report says some bus corridors that overlap with major construction projects, like the Valley Line West LRT expansion, were excluded from the shortlist. The city has a separate long-term strategy for similar traffic management measures along roads like Jasper Avenue, 97th Street, Whyte Avenue — among others. These were outlined in a memo to council in December and are part of the city's bus rapid transit system.
