P.A. homeowners see lowest tax hike in province

Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne is making no apologies for bragging about his city’s tiny 2017 property tax increase.

The City of Prince Albert sent out a news release Thursday, proclaiming the 1.5 per cent increase the lowest in Saskatchewan for 2017.

Many municipalities, including Prince Albert, were faced with substantial shortfalls created by the March 22 provincial budget and many felt compelled to make up the holes with property tax increases.

Dionne said he and Prince Albert city council were determined to keep a 2016 election pledge to keep property taxes low and opted to cut services instead.

“I’m happy with it, especially now when I see what all the other cities did,” Dionne said in an interview Thursday. “The easy answer when you have a shortfall like this is to download on the taxpayer and we decided not to go that route.”

Dionne met with mayors and city managers from 11 other Saskatchewan cities in Regina on Tuesday at a Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association caucus meeting.

When he heard about the final property tax increase from other cities, Dionne felt compelled to send out the news release. The release includes a list of 12 cities and their property tax increases with Prince Albert at the bottom.

Yorkton leads the way with a property tax increase of 9.4 per cent, followed by Melville at 8.36 per cent and Estevan at eight per cent. Regina raised property taxes 6.49 per cent, Moose Jaw 6.24 per cent and Saskatoon 4.82 per cent.

“We thought it was prudent this year to keep our taxes as low as we could,” Dionne said.

The provincial budget created a $2.1-million hole in the city’s budget. Dionne admitted the city used nearly $1 million in “found money,” including about $600,000 from workers’ compensation and $230,000 in savings through the elimination of one year of firefighters’ retroactive pay.

To address the rest of the shortfall, the city cut deep into service levels, including about $200,000 from the police budget. Prince Albert also cut $170,000 from the community services department and raised parking rates and fines.

Although Saskatoon’s overall municipal property tax increase is 4.82 per cent, the impact on residential properties is expected to be about 2.55 per cent with businesses absorbing a much higher increase.

Dionne said he thinks it’s OK to brag this year, even though Prince Albert is expected to face an even larger $3.5-million shortfall in 2018. The city is preparing for an entire year’s impact of the province’s decision to eliminate some grants-in-lieu, Dionne said, and will consider spending cuts and layoffs to address it.