The City of Red Deer is making strategic budget adjustments to ensure long-term financial sustainability while maintaining core services. These changes will help us manage our budget while continuing to provide essential community services where they're needed most.

Heading into the 2025 budget, The City was facing an $18 million dollar shortfall. There are many factors that have contributed to this financial position, and over the past few years, these economic pressures have become increasingly challenging: 

• Increased inflation and cost of operations
• Decreased grants from other levels of government
• Slowed growth and economic recovery from the pandemic
• Property taxes not keeping pace with cost of services (past years of zero of lower than average property tax increases are not sustainable and typically lead to higher increases in future years)

The approved 2025 tax increase was largely used to close this gap without further use of our reserves; however, service level reductions were still needed to lower expenses and balance the budget. Some lower-priority services have been adjusted in alignment with community need to manage these expenses. 

The approved reductions totaled $921,884 in ongoing service level reductions, affecting parks, public amenities, and maintenance programs. 

Yes. These are strategic, operational decisions made with community need in mind. Annual budget and program reviews will guide future service levels. 

We invite all citizens who enjoy using our public amenities to take pride and pitch in! Learn how you can help keep Red Deer beautiful.