Overview

Council announced the approval of the 2024-2026 budget during the regular Council meeting on December 11. The budget, totaling $82.8 million for municipal operations and $135 million for capital projects over three years, reflects a thoughtful balance between maintaining service levels, fostering sustainable growth, and acknowledging the economic challenges faced by residents.

"Last year Council made a significant investment in our community as we recognized the inflationary costs associated with providing services and delivering on critical capital projects,” said Mayor Genung, Town of Cochrane. “This budget continues to respond to the inflationary pressures that all municipalities are experiencing, while ensuring we can continue to deliver the services and projects that our community requires.”

To align with the approved budget, Council endorsed a municipal tax revenue increase of $1,275,000 (or 3.63%) to meet the financial demands. The final budget book will be available in the first quarter of 2024. Read the full press release here.

Budget highlights

The average household in Cochrane (assessed at $561, 200) will see an increase of approximately $8.17 per month in 2024.

Municipal Services:

• Increased security coverage at the Station during the weekdays
• A number of new positions including adding four fire fighters, an RCMP officer, parks staff, and more

Capital Investment:

• 5th avenue servicing
• Horse Creek Sports Park master plan
• Affordable housing action plan
• James Walker Trail sage 3
• Cochrane App/Alerting system
• River heights pump station and water storage expansion

No changes were recommended to the capital budget or service fees during deliberations.

Spring Budget Engagement

In Spring 2023 residents were invited to provide feedback on the Town budget with a focus on service levels. 487 residents responded, making this survey statistically valid. View the full What We Heard Report on the right hand side of this page.

What we heard:

• 57% of respondents indicated they receive good, very good or excellent value from municipal services.
• Most respondents (50%) prefer an increase in taxes to maintain or increase services. 36% of respondents prefer cutting services to maintain or reduce taxes, while 14% did not provide an opinion.

• Overall results show most respondents want spending for most services to remain the same. That said, the following services had the highest percentage of respondents requesting an increase in spending:
  • 30%: Family & Community Support Services
  • 23%: Roads
  • 23%: Parks and Open Spaces
• Services that had the highest percentage of respondents wanting a decrease in spending include:
  • Transit (35%)
  • Municipal Enforcement (28%)
  • Partner Organizations (3%)

• When asked about the top priority facing Cochrane, 29% chose long-term sustainability (smooth tax strategies). 23% would like to see Cochrane prioritize planning for future growth to prevent overcrowding, and 14% would like Cochrane to find ways to lower property taxes in the future.

How did we incorporate your feedback?

Public input played a crucial role in shaping the budget, with a randomized survey indicating that 50% of respondents preferred a tax increase to maintain or increase services. Roads and Parks & Open Spaces emerged as two of the primary focus areas. The approved budget will direct resources toward these priority areas, reflecting our commitment to actively listen to our residents.