Saskatoon city councillors are expected to be busy staring at reams of financial documents Monday, as they decide where the city’s money should be spent in 2022 and 2023.
Council is set to begin three days of budget deliberations to decide which civic departments should get funding increases and whether money can be cut.
Last week, the city’s finance department released a preliminary budget, recommending that property taxes increase by 3.51 per cent in 2022 and 3.14 per cent in 2023.
The proposed 2022 increase would mean a homeowner with a house worth $344,000 would pay an extra $67.29 next year, or an extra $5.61 per month.
Likewise, the 2023 increase would mean the same homeowner would pay an extra $62.33 per year, or another $5.19 per month.
In total, the tax increase is expected to bring in an additional $9.3 million in 2022 and $8.8 million in 2023.
The city anticipates COVID-19-related expenses will cost the city $13.85 million next year and $10.02 million in 2023.
That number includes $5.49 million in lost revenue to Saskatoon Transit next year, along with $948,300 less collected in parking revenue. The city expects to pay for those costs through the Canada Infrastructure Program reallocation pool.
The preliminary budget said the most money would go toward the Saskatoon Police Service at $119 million, followed by $90 million for transportation and $55 million for the fire department.
Staff wages currently make up 59 per cent of the city budget. The city said it’s tied into a number of collective bargaining agreements with its unions, and that it was required to meet those obligations.
Large spending items include $107 million for utility infrastructure maintenance, $52 million for land development and $32 million for roadway preservation next year.
