Saskatoon city councillors will meet on Monday afternoon to discuss ideas to lower a property tax hike.
Property taxes are expected to increase 5.77 per cent by 2018 – a move to deal with the city’s $12 million shortfall.
The shortfall is a result of the Saskatchewan government cutting the grants-in-lieu of taxes program for some of its Crown corporations.
To deal with this shortfall the city has come up with nine “viable” ideas:
Reintroduce an amusement tax
Remove the expansion of snow and ice removal service
Discontinue printing the garbage and recycling collection calendar
Collect garbage bi-weekly
Water city gardens less
A secondary suite fee
Reduce contribution to the Reserve for Capital Expenditures, a fund set to accommodate a growing population
Increase the amount of advertisement-paid billboards the city allows along highways
Applying waste as a utility
According to a budget plan report, the above ideas could lower the 2018 property tax by 5.61 per cent, to a 0.16 per cent hike.
