Mayor hopeful Block lays out affordability plan for rapidly growing Saskatoon

Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cynthia Block says the city needs a new deal with Ottawa to keep life affordable.

Block unveiled her platform of affordability efforts Monday morning, saying municipal governments are being asked to pay more than ever before, with limited ways to raise revenue.

"When a fire engine costs $800,000 in 2020 and today costs $1.8 million, it's just one example of how cities are taking on a disproportionate burden of inflation," Block said.

"That makes it increasingly difficult to manage budgets and maintain services without passing those costs along to taxpayers. We need a new deal with Ottawa to create a more efficient procurement strategy and baseline funding for things like transit."

With Saskatoon's population exceeding 300,000 people last year, Block says the city could grow beyond 400,000 in the next three years. She said smart growth that keeps life affordable will be key, as population growth puts added pressure on "basic infrastructure" like transit and roadways.

"All across the country, there have been incentives to accelerate a full transit system in cities like ours. It means that now we have more pressure on that, as well. How can we as a city get some relief by transferring that load to a federal taxation system instead of always on property tax?"

Block said more costs have been downloaded onto municipalities by the province as well, which has resulted in more property tax increases to pay for things the province historically paid for.

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Earlier this year, the city was forced to implement an upcoming land levy for all new single-family home builds to help the city buy land for the construction of future high schools — historically something the province paid for itself and included in the capital cost of a new school.

With education being a provincial responsibility, the levy sparked plenty of debate over government responsibilities. 

Block said there's only so many times the city can ask residents to pay more for services they need, and she committed to forming a relationship with the province to reduce reliability on property tax.

"We have so many things to be excited about in our city today, but we're facing some very serious growing pains," Block said.

"How can we make those longer-term decisions so that we will be less expensive in the long run?"

Block committed to push for residential and commercial development downtown, and said she plans to convene a roundtable with industry leaders to drive mixed-use developments along LINK routes, the city's upcoming bus rapid transit system.

As part of her affordability strategy, Block also said she would seek new tools to encourage rental renovations for affordable housing.

The municipal election will be held on Nov. 13. The nomination period ends on Wednesday.