SNOW CLEARING: Clearing up the facts on service levels & budget

At the Community and Public Services Committee meeting on June 19, 2023, City Administration presented a report on the 2022-23 Snow and Ice Control Winter Season results. This received some recent headlines that I wanted to address. 

In this report it states “Edmontonians will experience a decrease in service levels in the 2023-24 winter season from the 2022-23 winter season, as funding levels will reflect funding allocated in Budget 2023-26”.

While this is technically accurate (as Council approved one-time funding on top of the base budget for the 2022-23 season), a 20% increase has been approved for the base-funding over 4 years for snow clearing in the 2023-2026 budgets (see image below). This means that while we see a dip from the one-time funding service-levels experienced in the 2022-23 winter season, we’ll see improvements as service levels increase in alignment with the base budget over the next three winter seasons. 

Additionally, one of the goals of the OP-12 (Operational Budget Amendment #12), approved during the budget, is to find efficiencies within existing City resources. I’m confident that some of the savings that the Administration finds will be put towards increasing the snow clearing service levels. Additionally, I am optimistic with the appointment of a new Deputy City Manager of Operations bringing in fresh ideas to ensure efficiency. 

I appreciate hearing from you as the City continues to improve all services. I'm committed to bring snow clearing service levels up and support accessible movement of all modes over the winter months.