The City of Saskatoon says it’s found a way to drop a proposed 7.32 per cent property tax hike by nearly two per cent.
The proposed increase could fall to at least 5.49 per cent if city council approves several administrative recommendations during budget deliberations next week, the city wrote in a media release Friday.
Spreading a dedicated road tax — which is to be applied for two more years — over three years could drop the tax hike by nearly one per cent, for instance. Deferring payments for sound walls could also add to a lower increase, the city said.
The proposed moves do “not change the total investment originally proposed for each year for roads, or actual timing of the work in the case of the sound walls,” said Kerry Tarasoff, the city’s chief financial officer.
Savings through sources such as land development profits would fund the road investments.
The city said it could also find savings of up to $1 million in civic facility projects and that dropping a $250,000 increase to Meewasin Valley’s funding by $50,000 could also lower the tax hike.
Administration’s report also stated the city could save $70,000 per month during the summer by reducing weekly garbage collection to once every two weeks — though these numbers were calculated outside of the potential 1.83 per cent drop in the proposed hike.
City council’s budget deliberations are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Most of the proposed tax hike is slated to go towards roads, the police and fire services.
