Calgary city council to consider 20% increase to ward budgets
Posted Jul 28, 2026 6:45 pm.
Calgary city councillors could see a funding boost to their offices, with administration suggesting a 20 per cent increase to ward offices to account for population growth and inflation.
Councillors currently have a budget of just over $370,000, but that could reach $455,000 in 2027 if approved.
“We’ve seen significant increases in population, which means that the demands on our local elected officials, including councillors, have increased,” said Mayor Jeromy Farkas.
CityNews looked into last year’s expenses and found there was high variance between councillors. Some had more than one hundred thousand dollars left over, while another saw as little as 170 dollars left over.
But councillor Dan McLean, whose ward spending for this year is right in the middle of the pack, says he opposes the boost and says it would be hypocritical of council to increase their spending, while asking administration to find cuts elsewhere.
“Yes, there are more people in our wards, but I would suggest just hiring good staff and working extra hard,” said McLean.
Mayor Farkas was also asked if instead of a budget increase, the city could look at adding more wards—but Farkas said that would be a far more expensive endeavour, costing far more than the 20 per cent proposed increase.
Council will be voting on the proposal later this evening.
