It’s time consuming, it’s expensive, it’s needed. The cost of growth in Regina is going to hit homeowners as city council has approved a 3-point-9 percent property tax hike, on top of a seven percent hike in water and sewer rates.
But, with a capital budget of nearly 400 million dollars for added road work and the construction of a new water treatment plant, administration needed this increase to help fill the piggy bank. Mayor Pat Fiacco hopes citizens will realize what needs to be done. “Nobody likes any type of an increase in taxes. I don’t think there’s a lot of people out there that would jump for joy because of an increase, however I also think citizens are starting to realized the fact that we have and aging infrastructure” says Fiacco.
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This raise in taxes effects home owners, but according to the Chamber of Commerce it hits businesses even harder. CEO of Regina’s Chamber of Commerce, John Hopkins says, “The impact on business is double because of the relative tax rate which is a premium that’s charged to businesses over residential, its 198%, so the impact to business is twice as much per dollar value.”
The mayor says that he understands the chamber’s concerns, but the conditions of Regina’s infrastructure needs to be fixed to keep up with growth. “We do have a strategy of managed growth and it’s tough because it doesn’t mean spending less money, it means spending more money and preparing for the future.”
With this increase to revenues, the work of upgrading and rebuilding, can get underway.
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