'Missed opportunity': Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce says city could have saved millions by cutting new hires
The City of Saskatoon could have saved millions of dollars in its 2023 budget by restricting new hires, according to the Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.
Jason Aebig, CEO of the chamber, said he’s disappointed city councillors didn’t debate employment expenses further.
“Unfortunately, we didn't get there and that's disappointing,” Aebig told CTV News.
The number of city staff, including police, will increase by 77 full-time equivalent employees next year — some of the positions are funded by the province.
Cutting 30 of those positions would save $2.25 million, according to Aebig.
Council found savings in other ways, largely by adjusting its forecasted fuel costs.
Aebig said council’s strategy of finding small savings here and there is inefficient.
“It’s like vacuuming the rug when the house is on fire,” Aebig said, referring to council’s debate of reducing landfill hours.
“When we’re talking about trying to find savings, we need to look at the meatiest part of the operating budget. How come, when it comes to hiring or rehiring positions, that question is untouchable? To avoid having that discussion is a missed opportunity.”
Mayor Charlie Clark says each new employee being added is needed, specifically the new transit workers.
“We need to have some additional transit staff in the mechanic area, so we do not end up in the situation where we don’t have buses,” Clark told reporters after the budget deliberations.
The one councillor who voted against the 2023 budget
The city’s spending choices determined the finalized property tax rate.
Last year, council pre-approved a 3.53 per cent hike. The administration recommended increasing it to 4.38 per cent because of inflationary pressures and new costs. Eventually, council brought the property tax increase down to 3.93 per cent.
The average homeowner will pay $6.53 more per month.
Ward 1 Councillor Darren Hill was the only person who voted against the 2023 budget.
“I wasn't going to support anything above and beyond the 3.53 that we had identified last year in the multi-year budget process,” Hill said.
“We should have done everything within our power to stay at 3.53.”
Hill echoed Aebig’s idea to focus on hiring costs to save.
“I can't remember the last time that we've done a big dive right into every single operating line, and every single full-time equivalent employee that we have, and evaluate their position, their responsibilities and see if it's still warranted,” Hill said.
City hall is continuing with its multi-year budgets. Clark said the administration will soon start crunching numbers for the 2024 and 2025 cycle.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court