Highlights from the March 25, 2025, meeting of Lethbridge City Council.

Lethbridge City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to have the Mayor’s Office again declare April 7 as Green Shirt Day. Mayor Hyggen says he wants to keep bringing this item to Council annually, rather than as a one-time declaration, to continually highlight Logan’s impact and the importance of talking to your family about becoming an organ donor.

Layers in the morning and windows down in the afternoon – welcome to March and spring in Lethbridge. The first topic I want to address this month is the wonderful recent news from the Lethbridge Police Service that crime in our city decreased by 16 per cent in 2024. 

City Council has approved a move on Tuesday, that saves more than $1.4 million in loan interest and initiates next steps in meeting the new provincially mandated recycling regulations.

It is now less than seven months until the beginning of the 2025 Election Period in Lethbridge – and preparations are well underway. 

Highlights from the March 11, 2025, meeting of Lethbridge City Council.

City Council was provided an update from administration on the limited funding available in the next Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and the planning challenges that lie ahead.

The City of Lethbridge was pleased last week to learn about a specific area of the 2025 Alberta Budget: the restoration of Grants in Place of Taxes (GIPOT). Properties belonging to the Government of Alberta are exempt from municipal taxation. To account for this, municipalities are paid a GIPOT on eligible properties within their boundaries. Starting in 2025-26, GIPOT funding will be paid to municipalities at 75 per cent of the property tax amount that would be owed, equal to $55 million. Next year it will increase to 100 per cent.  

I was pleased to attend yesterday’s budget announcement in Edmonton, on behalf of Lethbridge City Council. One of our biggest priorities remains the need for future expansion plans for water and wastewater, so it was encouraging to see that Budget 2025 allocates $520 million across three years to support small and mid-sized municipalities in building or enhancing drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.