Local Improvements

Local Improvement Plan

Local improvements are construction projects that council considers to be of greater benefit to a particular area of the municipality than to the whole municipality. Examples include curb and gutter, sidewalks, and roadways specific to a street that do not serve the entire community.

Through the local improvement process, the City and property owners facilitate and support efforts to improve neighborhood assets. Local improvement projects maintain or improve amenities, increase attractiveness and accessibility without burdening all City taxpayers with the full financial responsibility of improving these areas.

Initiating a Local Improvement

Local improvements can be initiated by residents or the City. If residents wish to initiate a local improvement, please contact the engineering department to obtain instructions and package information.

Once the City or residents initiate a local improvement, the Local Improvement Process must be followed.

Petitioning Against a Local Improvement

If you wish to petition against a local improvement plan, a sufficient petition must be submitted to the engineering department within the 30-day petition period. You may obtain a Petition Information Package which clearly outlines the petition process on-line or at City Hall.

For a petition (for or against) a Local Improvement Plan to be sufficient, it must have:

  • Support from 2/3 of the property owners responsible to pay local improvement tax and must represent half (50%) of the assessed value of identified properties;
  • Validity of the petition, determined by the CAO; and
  • If it is determined to be a valid petition against the local improvement, council will not proceed with the local improvement.
Did you know? When you petition against the local improvement project, you are only petitioning against the portion of work that you as the property owner would be responsible for (sidewalks, curb & gutter, road surface, and medians). The City of Wetaskiwin will proceed with all necessary utility work funded through utility reserves. This also means, if a petition is successful against a local improvement, the road may be patched instead of fully paved and will not receive any surface upgrades.

Successful Petition Against a Local Improvement

When a local improvement is defeated by way of a formal petition, the project moves to the bottom of the rebuild list for the City and will be revisited according to the 10-year capital plan. The redevelopment will also be moved to the bottom of the priority list which could result in a lower level of service by this reprioritization (ex. you could be left with asphalt patches or a gravel road).

If residents want to have the project reconsidered, they must wait five (5) years from the last petition to reapply for the work to be completed.
  1. What if I cannot afford to pay for the local improvement levy?
  2. Will the completed work affect my future property assessments?
  3. What am I paying for with the local improvement tax?
  4. Do all city residents have to pay for the local improvements?
  5. Why is this not covered by the infrastructure maintenance tax?
  6. Do I still have to pay the local improvement tax if I move?
  7. Do other communities have local improvement tax?
  8. What can I do if I disagree with the classification of my road?
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