City takes heat over no-frills budget

Business, Some Citizens Decry Decision To Hike Mill Rate 4.34%

After a budget night that exposed deep divisions on council came the next-day hangover: a mood of great fatigue, some bitterness, but few regrets.

With debate lasting into the last minutes of Tuesday, councillors voted 10-1 to pass what Mayor Michael Fougere called a “no-frills” budget.

They managed to whittle down administration’s proposed 4.86-per-cent mill rate hike to 4.34 per cent. That means the average homeowner with a $350,000 home will pay $6.88 more per month, compared to last year’s tax bill, rather than $7.70.

To pay the difference, the city will pull money from last year’s surplus to pay for one-time costs, including financial support for sporting events like the Memorial Cup.

Coun. Andrew Stevens was the only holdout. Council repeatedly voted down his attempts to increase funding for bike lanes and community programs. He also supported unsuccessful amendments to support parks, waste rebates for condo owners and facilities renewal.

“It just wasn’t my budget,” he said.

Stevens has spoken out against the entire process of budgeting in Regina, which he claims leaves councillors out of the loop. On Wednesday, he criticized the previous night’s vote as a “performance.”

“I think that was a bit set up,” he said. “I’ve seen this the last two times: Here’s the mill rate, let’s do a dance and we’ll bring it down again.”

Coun. Bob Hawkins said there is “no merit” to that argument.

“Administration gives us its best advice and the council, which has input from the public … then goes to work,” said Hawkins. “I certainly strongly disagree with the notion that there’s something manipulative about this.”

Hawkins said it’s natural for politicians to respond to public outcry over tax increases. That, he suggested, is what happened on Tuesday.

Unlike provincial taxes on income and sales, property taxes don’t automatically keep pace with inflation. So long as prices rise, Hawkins said, there will always be a need for mill-rate increases.

“I think the public has understood very well that we worked hard to keep the tax rate down.”

Performance or not, council’s efforts weren’t enough to assuage anti-tax sentiment in the city. Residents took to social media saying they can’t afford hikes that, year after year, exceed wage growth.

Business groups also spoke out. Regina Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins acknowledged that council was in an almost impossible situation — with provincial cuts slashing deeply into revenues. But he expressed concern over the cumulative impact on business.

“At the end of the day, it’s a little bit less than what we thought we were going to get, but it’s still a sizable increase given what we’ve had historically,” said Hopkins.

“Will it cause layoffs and that type of thing, no, but it will just be another issue that businesses will have to deal with.”

Gord Archibald, of the Association of Regina Realtors, was also hoping for a “deeper” decrease. On Tuesday, he argued that a continued rise in property taxes decreases demand for homes. But he acknowledged this year’s hike is unlikely to affect buying decisions.

But Stevens objected that council is far too focused on taxes. He called for a mindset that starts with the city’s needs rather than a politically acceptable tax pitch.

“The mill rate is always a really uncomfortable situation with people, and a lightning rod for political discussion,” he said. “I think that kind of clouds people’s judgment.

“There were projects that we should be investing in for 2018, and we won’t be.”