Saskatoon City Council is meeting for the next three days from 28 November to discuss city budgetAffordable housing reverses, including an increase in property taxes, as well as an increase in the Saskatoon Police Service.
This budget was made in 2021. The city council has already declared that most of the items under consideration will not be adjusted for inflation.
Last year, the council approved an increase of 3.53 per cent for 2023 as part of its two-year budget plan.
The administration now says an additional $2.29 million needs to be added to the budget, resulting in a 0.82 percentage point increase in property taxes to 4.38 percent.
They have identified two options that will reduce the rate hike. One involves reducing Saskatoon Light and Power return on investment by one year, saving half a million dollars. The other option would be not to extend transit service to the Aspen Ridge neighborhood, which would save a little over $167,000.
Cutting both would reduce the proposed property tax increase by 0.21 percent.
Saskatoon residents face potential property tax hike
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“This has come as an additional hit to the small, medium and large businesses that make up Saskatoon’s business visitor economy,” said Stephanie Klovechok, CEO of Discover Saskatoon.
“I cannot stress enough how much any additional cost will be to consumers that we are trying to induce to travel to Saskatoon.”
Klovechok asked the council to keep the property tax rate at 3.53 percent instead of increasing it to 4.38 percent.
The city council has not yet taken any decision regarding the increase in property tax.
The Administration is hoping to avoid a reduction in the support provided by the City of Saskatoon to community partners in the development of affordable housing.
Currently, the 2022 base operating contribution to the Affordable Housing Reserve is $350,000 per year. The target allocation is $750,000, meaning the reserve is short $400,000. The administration recommended that this be accomplished with a new mill rate contribution of $100,000 and a capital contribution of $300,000.
A new $245,000 capital project has also been recommended in a report to the administration in preparation for the new housing strategy.
Four members of the public had requested to speak at the council meeting about these issues. Twenty two comments were also submitted on this matter.
“The issues of people experiencing homelessness have increased dramatically over the past few years, and the response from various levels of government and organizations has been inadequate,” said Caitlin Stickney, a Saskatoon resident.
“Last week a man’s body was found a few blocks from my house. A few blocks from a hospital. ,
“I look forward to sharing what you are willing to do as a community member, and how you can work as a council to be a positive force in the care and protection of all members of our community. But will bravely observe.”
Highlighted two sources of funding that can be used for a one-time contribution to capital projects for the Affordable Housing Reserve and New Housing Strategy: the Neighborhood Land Development Fund (NLDF) or the Reserve for Capital Expenditure (RCE) .
In January 2022, City Council resolved $376,066 in funds to be reallocated to the Affordable Housing Reserve. However, future contributions from NLDF are not certain.
Currently, a positive balance of approximately $0.6 million is projected from the NLDF at the end of 2022, which can be used to finance both the Affordable Housing Program and the Housing Strategy.
The second option was to consider Reserves for Capital Expenditure (RCE). RCE has a current fund of $2.58 million that will be available for the City Council’s use in 2023 if they choose.
Saskatoon Pleasant Hill resident Kyle Severson said, “Only if you live, perhaps, in a suburb and never commute downtown or from the west side, could you be oblivious to the seriousness of the situation right now with all that’s happening in Saskatoon Huh.”
Syverson suggested warm-up buses for Saskatoon’s homeless population, as well as public barrel burnings to provide immediate relief and shelter while awaiting a longer-term plan.
TCU Place, the Saskatchewan Centre, Remai Modern, the Saskatoon Public Library and the Saskatoon Police Service also asked for budget adjustments for 2023.
TCU Place posted a $1 million loss due to fewer national events as a result of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sasktel Center, however, said that they would never make a loss. Remai Modern also broke it.
The Saskatoon Public Library is hoping to be on budget but is still seeking more money than has already been approved in the 2023 budget.
The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is seeking an additional $760,000 for 2023, as well as an opportunity to expand the Alternate Response Officer program.
The Alternate Response Officer program was established in May 2021.
SPS currently has six alternate response officers who deal primarily with administrative calls, giving regular officers more time to respond to violent calls.
SPS is hoping to increase the number of alternate response officers to 12.
Saskatoon Police Chief Troy Cooper said, “So, we currently have six alternate response officers that we evaluated over a period of last year and we were simply asking that those officers be made a permanent position within our budget.” Keep.”
“AROs charge $350,000 a raise, so we had funding available to pilot 350 there, so the total program cost is less than $700,000.”
The decision is expected to come in the next days of the budget meeting.
– With files from easton ham.
