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The real cost of electing woke do nothing NDP mayors Nenshi and Gondek
'Bill is coming due': Farkas vows fiscal discipline as Calgary faces $50B infrastructure deficit
A massive bill is coming due for Calgary after years of deferred infrastructure investment at all levels of government, says the city's mayor.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas says city council will need "the discipline to say no" as it confronts a nearly $50-billion infrastructure deficit and prepares the city's next four-year budget.
Calgary faces "incredibly serious challenges," he said, as it tries to catch up on aging infrastructure while contending with population growth, affordability pressures, an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war and demands on city-funded services.
"For too long, governments at every level . . . have put off difficult decisions. Now, the bill is coming due," Farkas told members of the Rotary Club of Calgary-Downtown during a state of the city speech at the Glencoe Club on Wednesday. "Calgary faces an infrastructure deficit approaching $50 billion over the next 10 years.
"That is the result of decades of deferred investment, rapid growth and aging infrastructure."
Farkas pointed to the Bearspaw South feeder main as an example of both the consequences of aging infrastructure and the city's ability to tackle major projects quickly.
The critical water main ruptured in June 2024 and again on Dec. 30, 2025, prompting the city to accelerate plans to replace the line. The project, initially expected to take four years, is now on track to be completed in 11 months.
"Canada, Alberta and Calgary used to be able to do ambitious things, and on this file, we are proving once again that Calgary, Alberta and Canada can do ambitious things," Farkas said.
But that project represents just one piece of a "much, much larger" infrastructure challenge, he said, pointing to needed investments in roads, transit, recreation facilities and infrastructure to support new neighbourhoods.
"We have to catch up, and then we have to get ahead," Farkas said.
The mayor acknowledged the $50-billion infrastructure shortfall "will not disappear" in single budget or council term, but said delaying necessary work will only drive costs higher.
"We can make the hard decisions here and now. We can stop making it worse. We can set priorities. We can invest earlier," he said. "And we can stop pretending that delaying necessary work makes it cheaper in the long run, when we know that it's the opposite."
Who pays the bill?
Ultimately, taxpayer dollars will cover the cost of building and maintain city infrastructure, but it will be up to city council to prioritize spending needs and exercise "fiscal discipline" during upcoming budget deliberations, Farkas said.
"It means knowing the difference between what we need and what we want. It means setting priorities. It means finding savings before asking taxpayers for more," he said.
"It means demanding value from our city administration and from every major project, and it means having the discipline to say no."
Farkas added council will not solve the city's infrastructure woes by "funding everything that lands on city hall's wish list."
"We have to choose water before wants, safety before nice to haves, poor infrastructure before projects that can wait," he said.
"That is how we protect taxpayers while still preparing Calgary for the future. Spend where it matters, cut where it doesn't, and never ever forget whose money we are spending."
His comments come amid heightened scrutiny over how much Calgary taxpayers might be asked to pay under the city's next budget, after leaked preliminary budget document suggested Calgarians could face a steep tax hike in 2027.
Global News reported last week that the city would need to increase property tax revenues by 20.2 per cent in 2027 to fully cover all of the spending requests that have come before council for consideration within the 2027-30 budget cycle.
Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston has admitted to leaking the preliminary budget document to media. The document was related to a confidential discussion council had at its July 28 meeting.
In a video posted to social media last week, Farkas said the figures reported don't accurately portray any potential property tax hike, equating the presented increase to a "wish list" of all funding requests that council will whittle down in November.
Council is set to deliberate the city's next four-year budget in November.
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Besides being confused that none of the questions on the referendum are binding or really addressing any meaningful issues for Albertans (pension, tax collection, policing, equalization), I am confused about the No to the nine crowd. The left is owned by the unions, the teachers union, the nurses unions. The teachers complain incessantly about class sizes and the English as a second language kids and special needs kids. Nurses complain about how busy and how overrun they are in hospital and how healthcare needs to be protected - all concerns deeply impacted by immigration … AND YET… they want to say No to the Nine. So they want to whine but they don’t really want to solve the root cause of the problem that impacts them every day. Nothing drives me crazier than a person who wants to vent and identify problems without any commitment to finding a solution.
What confuses me is to be so blinded by your need to disagree with the conservatives that you would not even think thru the ...
Beautiful, this is what Alberta is all about
And Liberals will never understand it
Martyupnorth
I met a real "Most Alberta Woman" yesterday in Cremona.
Her name is Alana Miller. She and her husband are cattle ranchers. She showed up in her SUV, with a small child in the back seat. She was still wearing her work clothes. She was in a mild panic.
"Did I miss it? Are you guys closed?"
She desperately wanted to sign the petition. She came prepared with 5 documents to prove her identity and her physical address.
Everyone there was taken aback by her smile and enthusiasm. She is the future of Alberta, and we all knew it.
I asked her if I coud film her, and I'm so glad she agreed.
