'It just doesn’t make sense': Chamber urging Saskatoon city council to vote against tax increase
With the city council set to vote next week on additional tax increases, the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce has written a letter hoping to sway against an increase.
The city originally approved a 3.53 per cent property tax increase for 2023, but a report released on Wednesday is calling for it to be bumped up to 4.38 per cent. The increase would add $2.28 million to the city’s operating budget.
In a letter penned on Tuesday, Chamber of Commerce CEO Jason Aebig urged three other options it hopes the city council will consider next week during budget deliberations: to freeze the 3.53 per cent increase planned for 2023, act on cost reductions and options proposed by the city administration to bring the budget back to balance, and to defer hiring 30 full-time positions to address the city’s budget shortfall
Aebig says business owners have based their plans on the 3.53 per cent property tax increase and that another increase would create “unnecessary instability” as many small and medium-sized businesses are in “recovery mode” after the pandemic.
“Let’s not layer on now an additional increase. It just doesn’t make sense,” Aiebig told CTV News.
In October, the city warned it was facing a shortfall of $8.3 million because of COVID-19 and inflation costs. Aebig suggests the current deficit challenge the city is facing isn’t an income problem but a spending problem.
Aebig says 59 per cent of the city’s operating costs are for staff salaries and payroll costs. He says deferring hiring would help close the budget gap.
RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS
Ward 6 City Councillor Cynthia Block says Saskatoon’s commercial property tax is either the lowest or second lowest in the country, while residential property tax ranks “in the middle of the pack” compared with other prairie cities.
Saskatoon’s Chief Financial Officer Clae Hack says one-time funding will get the city through 2023, but beyond that, they’re running out of options.
“There’s all sorts of reserves we could take this money from, but we would literally be using our savings to pay like a mortgage because it’s ongoing,” Block told CTV News.
Block says in 2021 administration was asked to find $7 million in savings and was able to find $5 million.
“That did come about because there were freezes on hiring and deferring of hires and deferring training and, in many cases, limiting travel entirely,” she said.
Budget deliberations are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at city hall from Monday to Wednesday next week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Health minister 'deeply appreciative' of doctors but capital gains changes here to stay
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
Have you heard the one about Trump? Biden tries humour on the campaign trail
U.S. President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president's thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
'Do not consume': Gift Chocolate recalled due to undeclared milk, soy
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Here's where Canadians are living abroad: report
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Murder charge laid after man falls to death from Toronto apartment balcony
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Dozens in Italy give a fascist salute on the anniversary of Mussolini's execution
Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.