Current and Previous Budgets
We're currently developing the 2025-2025 City budget. Follow along on our project page.
City services impact your life every day. Each time you visit a recreation centre, have your garbage or recycling picked up, drink clean water from the tap, ride Medicine Hat Transit or have emergency services rush to your aid – you are using a City of Medicine Hat service.
That’s why the City’s budget is so important – it’s about setting our collective goals and building a great city. It determines the level of service provided to Medicine Hat residents and guides decisions on what City infrastructure will be purchased, built and repaired. As the City is limited by the amount of resources available, the Budget helps determine which projects and services have the highest priority and greatest impact on the community while advancing Council's priorities.
The budget is a financial plan that describes how much money the City will raise and spend. In Medicine Hat, it is separated into three segments:
- municipal tax-supported
- utility rate-supported, and
- commodity-based (COMCO)
City staff puts forward a proposed budget for deliberation and consideration by City Council. The approval of the budget directly impacts the City’s services, programs and infrastructure.
2023 and 2024 budget
City Council passed the 2023 and 2024 budgets on December 19, 2022 and the 2024 budget update on November 20, 2023 (see below).
Property taxes are used to fund services like emergency services (Police, Fire Protection, and 911), road maintenance and snow clearing, parks and swimming pools, public transit, and much more.
2023 and 2024 Municipal Tax-Supported and Invest Medicine Hat budget
The rate-supported budget ensures the City can build, maintain, replace, administer, and operate infrastructure to deliver the five utility services:
- Water
- Sewer
- Solid waste (garbage and recycling)
- Electric distribution
- Gas distribution
The COMCO budget covers the finances related to the production (or generation) of our commodity-based business (electricity, oil and natural gas).
2024 budget update
City Council approved the 2023-2024 budget in December 2022 and conducts an annual update to ensure necessary changes are appropriately reviewed and approved. Overall highlights of the updates include:
- Progress to reduce the 2024 Municipal budget gap by $0.8M (from $7.0M to $6.3M), largely because of a larger investment portfolio than previously anticipated.
- Commodity business unit earnings are anticipated to improve $26.6M from the previous 2024 budget largely because of higher forecasted energy prices and more economic opportunities to optimize electric generation assets.
- 2024 Commodity budgeted earnings are anticipated to drop more than 50% when compared to 2023 forecasted earnings.
- an increase to the 3rd Street renewal project by $3.58M for a total projected cost of $6.98M due to inflationary pressures and scope changes to save operating and maintenance costs and create efficiencies in future projects.
- The repurposing of a previously approved Medicine Hat Police Service $0.25M capital project to replace existing equipment worth $0.13M, resulting in a net savings of $0.12M.
2024 Municipal Budget Update 2024 COMCO Budget Update Council Presentation
Past budgets
Open past City of Medicine Hat municipal budgets and energy and utility budgets.