Cochrane will be receiving more capital funding from the province in 2024 with the introduction of the Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF).

All in, Cochrane is expecting to see $3.52 million in capital funding in 2024, up from $3.3 million this year. Indications are, it will continue to receive $451,288 in operating funding.

Tied to provincial revenue, the funding is expected to increase to $4.1 million in 2025.

Years of lobbying has paid off for Mayor Jeff Genung, who chairs of the Mid-Sized Cities Mayor's Caucus (MCMC), and other municipal leaders pursuing a better deal from the province. 

"The province listened was the takeaway for me," says Mayor Genung. "We were quite clear in our messaging to the province that we really didn't want to take a decrease, we really can't afford to take another decrease, so I was quite relieved and grateful to see that that was certainly not the case for Cochrane."

The province also listened to the need for reliable and sustainable funding, something Genung has been pursuing for six years.

"It's not perfect, but the province admitted as much that it's hard to find a perfect fit or a formula for every single municipality across the province. I'm just happy that we're seeing an increase, and that the funds are flowing in the right direction."

Efforts will continue to receive additional capital funding for rapidly-growing communities, like Cochrane.

"I haven't changed my tune here either, and that's for communities like Cochrane that are experiencing extremely fast growth. Airdrie would be another one, and there's quite a few across the province as the "Alberta is Calling" campaign is working and new Albertans are moving to our communities on what feels like a daily basis. I'd like to see another funding pot that we could access that would offset some of those issues and impacts that we're seeing from extreme growth."

Per capita funding from the previous Municipal Sustainability Program bounced all over the place for Cochrane and has been on a downward spiral since the 2010s, alarming, given the population growth experienced. 

"We've seen it jump all over the place," confirms Genung. "It's nice to have a formula now in place where we can forecast into the future what we what we're going to get and then be confident in that and then plan accordingly."

Municipal Affairs is allocating $722 million in capital funding to Alberta municipalities and Métis Settlements for the 2024-25 fiscal year. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, it's slated to increase to $820 million, a 14 per cent increase.

As requested by the municipalities, the LGFF formula includes a revenue index factor that ties future funding levels to the percentage change in provincial revenue from three years prior.