January 2025 Mayor's Column

Let me welcome you to the first Mayor’s Column of 2025.

To those new to reading this: I write this monthly feature on behalf of Lethbridge City Council to keep people informed on matters of importance in the community, as well as to highlight achievements by members of our community. Amid the challenges we face in Lethbridge, I also really try to use this space to focus on the positive pieces and the good news stories we have in the wonderful city we all call home.

One of the first big events of the year took place Thursday morning, as the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2025 Mayor’s State of the City address. I was very pleased at the turnout and was happy to share a full presentation on a whole host of matters.

Here are some of my opening remarks to the audience:

“Lethbridge is the third-largest city in Alberta and we consistently demonstrate a sustainable and healthy rate of growth. This stability, as well as steady growth and retention, allows the City of Lethbridge to plan effectively for the future of our community.

We know there were some challenges in 2024 that will carry here into 2025 and beyond. There are also plenty of good news stories for the City of Lethbridge.

We are in the final year of this Council term with myself and Councillors Mark Campbell, Jeff Carlson, Belinda Crowson, Rajko Dodic, John Middleton-Hope, Nick Paladino, Ryan Parker and Jenn Schmidt-Rempel.

Council will continue to work with our local elected representatives – MP Rachael Thomas, MLAs Nathan Neudorf and newly-elected Rob Miyashiro – and the other orders of government for the collective goal of creating a better Lethbridge and to advocate for the resources and funding our city needs to address key issues. We will push to further secure and advance our business sector's needs, so we can be the first place investors and businesses come when they look to open new doors and new ventures.”

My presentation focused on Top Priorities and Issues, City Finances, Major Community and Regional Partners and Some More Good News. Early on I shared a graphic outlining Government Roles and Responsibilities, which provided strong context for a number of the topics.

I spoke about the long-term needs we will have regarding water and wastewater, as well as how and why hard decisions were made on the Lethbridge and District Exhibition.

During my slide on public safety, I was happy to share updated recent numbers from the Commission’s Report to Lethbridge Police. When comparing the reporting period of January to September 2024 to the same time frame the prior year: overall crime violations decreased by 16 per cent, and total Crime Severity Index (CSI) score decreased by 17.7 per cent. This is great news for our city and I want to again applaud the work of LPS.

In the State of the City presentation, I also provided positive updates on the encampment strategy, shelter expansion, housing, plus physician recruitment and retention.

During the City finances section, I showed a detailed illustration to break down what the municipal portion of your tax bill paid for in 2024. The largest share goes towards our vital emergency services with our Police, Fire & Emergency Management Services at almost 38 per cent.

As per usual in January, I have had a lot of calls and emails in the past few weeks regarding property assessments. This is a complicated subject as there so many variables, including home features, renovations, a hot housing market, and that your current assessment is based on the market value as of July 1 of the previous year. 

Property tax bills are specific to each property. Anyone with questions can contact 311 to get information specific to their assessment and tax bill. You can also visit https://www.lethbridge.ca/taxes to learn more about property taxes. Individual properties may see a tax change on their bills for a number of reasons, such as: a change in property assessment (the value of your home, business or multi-family complex); an increase to the Green Acres Foundation budget or to the Alberta School budget; and new construction or demolition. 

We have a wealth of information on our website, including the City’s Property Information WebMAP online to compare your assessment to your neighbours’ and other similar properties that have recently sold. You can also contact our Assessment Department with any questions or for more details on your assessment. They would be happy to assist you and answer any inquiries.

In the Some More Good News section, I provided quick recaps or updates on 50 years of the Sportsplex (now VisitLethbridge.com Arena), Outdoor Sports Court, River Valley Trail Network, Outdoor Dog Run at the Animal Shelter, Pedestrian Safety, Remounted Ambulances, Fritz Sick Pool upgrades, Galbraith Gymnasium expansion, Clean Energy Improvement Program and the Mighty Neighbours program.

I also spoke about online resources on the City’s website available for prospective candidates for the 2025 Municipal Election, as well as ways for the community to stay informed.

Towards the end, I let everyone know that the City’s next Community Conversation event coming up at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday, January 29.

The Community Conversation is a great way to bring together all of the City projects requiring community engagement in one convenient location, making it easier for residents to participate. Public participation helps build a strong and connected community, informs council decision making and helps improve the city we all call home.

We are excited to have a whole array of projects and departments available for our residents to explore, get informed on, give feedback and connect with the City staff and partners. We will have representatives from most City departments available, including 311 as well as myself and several members of Council.

The full State of the City presentation will be soon available on the City’s website and my social media pages. Rogers TV Lethbridge will also have the video on broadcast and on its YouTube page.

Up next is the first Lethbridge City Council meeting of 2025, which will take place next week. See the full agenda here.

I am really looking forward to 2025 and think it will be a great year for our city and our residents.

As co-chair of the Cardiac Science Advisory Cabinet, I’ll take this opportunity to plug an event coming up on February 1. The Bringing Hearts Home Gala is set for that evening at LDE and we’d love to have you join us. Limited tickets are still available.

As always, please be safe and kind to one another.