Council is preparing to debate the City of Lloydminster’s 2026 budget, but a key piece of information requested earlier this month did not appear in the final document.
During the Nov. 5 Governance and Priorities Committee meeting, Mayor Gerald Aalbers asked city administration to provide a 10 year cost review for Lloydminster Fire Rescue and the RCMP. He said taxpayers needed to understand how service levels and expenses have changed over time.
“I think what I would ask administration to bring forward for the 24th is a cost review over the last 10 years for both RCMP and fire. I think it is important for the community to understand, and I think it can come out in this package.”
The finalized budget released ahead of Monday’s vote did not include that comparison. The document offers future 10 year capital plans but no historical operating cost breakdown for police or fire.
Mayor Aalbers also noted how much the fire budget has grown.
“We are now looking at a budget of eight million dollars for Lloyd Fire Rescue, and it was about almost a tenth of that 10 years ago.”
He was almost exactly right. In 2014, the fire budget was 991 thousand dollars. In 2026, it is 8.4 million dollars. That is a 746 per cent increase in 11 years.
Granted, in 2014 the department looked vastly different than the one we see today. It was majority volunteer. More on that tomorrow.
The missing information leaves council and taxpayers without the long term context that was specifically requested before debating a major expansion of fire services.
The omission leaves taxpayers without the long term cost context council requested as protective services drive three per cent of the proposed 4.08 per cent tax increase.
Read more: No, Lloydminster council has not approved a 3.9 per cent increase
