Alberta mayors and other municipal leaders are imploring the provincial government to reconsider legislation that will sharply reduce how much money municipalities receive in future years.

In a letter sent Monday, municipal leaders say they are prepared to support the United Conservative Party's mandate to "get the province's house in order" and they expected reductions in municipal spending.

However, the letter continues, "under this new [Local Government Fiscal Framework], we are concerned that funding will grow at only half the rate of provincial revenue each year."

It urges an amendment to Bill 20, which was introduced Oct. 28, that would tie municipal to provincial revenues at a one-to-one ratio, giving municipalities more resources when revenue is up and fewer during more challenging times.

"Without this complete indexing connection, municipalities will be left behind from an inflationary perspective," states the letter signed by Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi as well as the presidents of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.

Finance Minister Travis Toews spoke to media on Monday at the Alberta Legislature. (Manuel Carrillos/CBC)

"We urge the government to take a longer term view of the role of municipalities. We encourage them to work with us to determine the appropriate formulas and solutions to help address the fiscal challenges while continuing to make our economy grow."

Bills 20 and 21, two pieces of omnibus legislation introduced at the same time by Finance Minister Travis Toews, contained more than 35 changes. The changes include replacing city charters for Edmonton and Calgary with the Local Government Fiscal Framework Act and an amendment to funding agreements for LRT.

On Monday, Toews said he would not be considering the amendment as requested by the mayors and municipal leaders — but he didn't rule out them receiving more when times are good.

"It will be incumbent on all levels of government to exercise spending restraints, to make significant effort at prioritizing those expenditures that will really move the meter for Albertans. Certainly that will be expected of this government and our municipal partners will have to work with us on that," he said.

"We recognize that as revenues improve for this government, municipalities can share in that as well," he added.

Iveson has said that the 2019 provincial budget will leave Alberta municipalities in the position of either falling behind on infrastructure, paying more for debt interest payments or both. City councillors will soon begin looking at projects to figure out which will be affected.

The budget calls for the Municipal Sustainability Initiative, or MSI, to be reduced by $94 million in 2020-21 and $142 million in 2021-22. As well, repealing the city charters will reduce base spending by $45 million per year for Edmonton and Calgary.