Andrew Knack (Mayor) on the 2026 budget / 6.9% tax increase

CBC / Global News coverage of the Dec 2025 budget adjustment: council approved a 6.9% property tax increase for 2026 (up from a previously planned 6.4%), on an 11-2 vote (Elliott and Principe opposed).

Direct quotes: - Mayor Andrew Knack: "My goal was always to be at the 6.4 (per cent) — I'm glad that the one increase we saw is in an area that produces a significant economic return." - Knack, on why he wouldn't cut further: "If we wanted to go back and lower than the 6.4, we would have to cut back on transit service, we would have to close libraries earlier, we would have to reduce hours to rec centres. I did not hear an appetite for that." - Councillor Erin Rutherford: "I chose in the end to be a team player, but I feel like I put my council colleagues on notice that I can't continue to do this year over year." - Councillor Karen Principe (voted against): "I was really hoping this council was going to make some tough decisions and say no."

Reading (for the thesis): Knack frames the frontline services — transit, libraries, rec centres — as the discretionary things that get cut when the tax number has to come down, while the police funding formula (see police-funding beat) is not on that chopping block. The "significant economic return" he's glad about is the growth-side spending, not relief for residents facing the bill.

Original source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-city-council-property-tax-increase-9.7004080 Original source: https://globalnews.ca/news/11560423/edmonton-budget-2026/ Retrieved: 2026-07-04