Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark told business leaders on Tuesday that his belief in the city is as strong as it’s ever been — even with a challenging provincial budget.
Tuesday’s State of the City address at a luncheon hosted by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce was Clark’s first since his election in October.
“We’re becoming a global city and people are moving here from all over the world, seeking opportunity,” Clark told the crowd.
The mayor’s comments came a day after council approved a series of measures to address a $9 million shortfall in the city’s operating budget that was caused by the provincial budget.
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The one per cent increase in the provincial sales tax and the province’s elimination of grants-in-lieu of taxes for SaskPower and SaskEnergy resulted in Saskatoon’s council revisiting its own budget decisions.
“We added a 0.93 per cent tax increase yesterday. We felt that was trying to mitigate the impacts as much as we could overall,” Clark told reporters.
The mayor also reiterated his position that Crown corporations need to compensate cities for the equivalent of taxes.
“There’s reason for hope about that relationship,” Clark said of city council’s interactions with the provincial government.
Clark also addressed opportunities in green technology, indigenous inclusion and economic development in his speech.
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