Property owners in Edmonton can expect a 2.6-per-cent tax increase in each of the next four years after city council passed the 2019-22 operating budget Friday.

The owner of a typical Edmonton home valued at $397,000 will pay $2,526 in property taxes in 2019, an increase of $65 over 2018, the city said in a news release.

The operating budget, about $3 billion per year over the four-year period, was approved by a vote of 11-2. Coun. Mike Nickel and Coun. Jon Dziadyk voted against it, saying there should be no tax increase.

When the budget was proposed by city administration in November, it called for a 3.3-per-cent tax hike.

Council also approved the $4.8-billion four-year capital budget, by a vote of 12-1. Nickel was alone in voting against it.

Mayor Don Iveson said the tax increase is needed to help the city catch up from the 1990s when infrastructure needs were neglected.

"Council showed a commitment to economic resilience and keeping taxes reasonable while we continue to deliver the core services Edmontonians value," Iveson said in the news release.

"But we'll also continue to look for cost savings and efficiencies to reduce this rate in the spring before final rates are set."

The budget includes some big projects, like the Valley Line LRT, turning the Yellowhead highway into a freeway and developing Blatchford on the former municipal airport lands. 

Council also agreed to take on $112 million in debt to turn Terwillegar Drive into an expressway.