Action Plan: City council budget talks begin

City Council started talking budget today, starting with a presentation on Calgary's Action Plan for 2015-18 by Chief Financial Officer Eric Sawyer.

The Action Plan, released Nov. 4, shows the City has a budget of roughly $22 billion for the next four years.

"Over 50 per cent of the capital program you're seeing here is going towards growth and new development," said Sawyer.

Highlights of the Action Plan include:

Calgary Transit's launch of the LRT Green Line, as well as increase to transit and Access Calgary hours

Advance technology to improve ebusiness for citizens

Continued flood resiliency investments

New fire stations, an upgraded 911 system and new fire, police and bylaw officers

Upgrades to parks, including athletic and pools

Advancement of the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative;

And more

In the council session, Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart raised the question of how different the budget would've looked without recent environmental incidents such as June 2013 flooding and the "Snowtember" event, which wiped out a large portion of Calgary's trees.

"No question the tree event and the flood were significant events for Calgary," said Sawyer. "The flood has amounted some $450 million of projects identified and those numbers are moving around a bit. We are certainly counting on insurance and the DRP to help meet those requirements."

Sawyer added with natural events such as the flood, the city does have reserve funding as well.

CREBNow will continue to follow the city's budget talks as information is revealed and we'll keep you updated via this blog as well as our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

* Photo courtesy City of Calgary