Property tax hike lowest in decade as election nears

City’s two-year budget proposes hiring 99 full-time employees

The City of Saskatoon’s first preliminary two-year budget offers the lowest property tax increases in a decade, with an election on the horizon.

As expected, the city administration proposes property tax increases of 3.23 per cent next year, when an election is scheduled, and 3.54 per cent in 2021.

The property tax hikes remain unchanged from July, when city council approved measures to reduce proposed increases of 3.95 per cent and 4.17 per cent.

The city’s interim chief financial officer, Clae Hack, said city hall listened to residents who wanted to avoid cuts to city services.

“We did our best to balance both maintaining services and also keep a manageable tax increase for residents,” Clae told reporters on Wednesday.

City hall has not levied a lower property tax increase since 2.87 per cent in 2009.

So far this century, six property tax increases were smaller than the increases pitched for the next two years. Four of those happened in election years.

The property tax increases amount to an extra $60.95 in 2020 and $66.82 in 2021 for a single-family home with an assessed value of $371,000.

The two-year budget proposes 58.8 new full-time employees in 2020 and another 40.5 in 2021.

Those new positions, which are spread out over numerous city departments, would bring the total full-timers to just under 4,000 in two years.

“As the city continues to grow, as we add more park spaces, as we add more roadways, we need more staff in order to maintain those,” Hack said, adding that the growth in new city employees remains lower than population growth.

In addition to the property tax increase, water and power rates are going up over the next two years.

Saskatoon Light & Power rates are expected to rise by 4.6 per cent in 2020 and 4.15 per cent in 2021.

Water utility rates are set to jump by 4.1 per cent next year and 3.9 per cent in 2021. For the last four years, water rates have risen by nine per cent or more.

The city’s operating budget, about half of which is covered by property taxes, is increasing from $504.3 million this year to $524.7 million in 2020 and $542.4 million in 2021.

The entire budget, including utilities and capital spending, rises from $1.13 billion this year to $1.29 billion next year and $1.23 billion in 2021.

Capital spending jumps to $390.8 million in 2020 from $260.4 million this year, largely due to a proposed $152.9 million in spending on a new central library.

Hack said it’s an unusual situation to include the cost of a project that has yet to be approved by city council. Council could decide on whether the new library goes ahead at budget talks at the end of November, when more information on the project is expected.

That’s when council will approve the final budget.

Over the two years, spending on capital projects for the water and power utilities is budgeted at $229 million. Much of this cost is covered by utility rates.

The Saskatoon Public Library, which has its own taxing power, is proposing increases of 5.2 per cent in 2020 and 4.9 per cent in 2021. The library’s portion amounts to about six per cent of the property tax bill.

The Saskatoon Police Service is seeking property tax-funded spending increases of 4.5 per cent in 2020 and 4.4 per cent in 2021. That includes seven new full-time positions in 2020 and 5.8 new positions in 2021.

The cost of visiting the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo is also rising, from $12.50 for daily adult admission to $13 in 2020 and $13.50 in 2010. Admission at Nutrien Playland is also rising to $2.25 next year from $2.

Lynne Lacroix, the city’s general manager of community services, said these increases are needed to keep up with rising costs without using property tax to cover them.

No Saskatoon Transit bus fare increases are proposed for the next two years.

The two-year budget includes borrowing of $103.5 million, most of which, $87.5 million, would fund the construction of the new downtown library.

The city’s debt stood at $354 million at the end of last year and is expected to peak at $439 million in 2025.