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It’s easy for people living in mature neighbourhoods to feel holier-than-thou in this city budget debate.

Mayor Don Iveson wants the new suburbs to pay their own way. Of course. Yes. Cheer if you live in an established area and wonder why cracked streets and sidewalks aren’t fixed quicker.

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But that’s not going to solve Edmonton’s budget woes.

Many planning experts talk about city budgets being like a Ponzi scheme.

To borrow an analogy from University of Alberta planner Robert Summers, cities are like a condo board in a new building that doesn’t charge enough in condo fees to cover long-term maintenance. Instead, when the boiler goes and the roof needs to be fixed, the board builds a new building and uses its fees to cover repairs in the first.

This works as long as the board can keep building and selling new units. But if it stops, homeowners in those buildings have two choices: jack up the fees or see their condo community crumble.