Saskatoon city council was back at it again Thursday, trying to make deferrals and cuts to address future funding shortfalls in its budget.
Mayor Charlie Clark said this was the last meeting before the budget book was created, and they were going to try to make as much progress as they could.
“One option I want council to think about is rather than going through business line by business line, looking at going through options based off of the order of magnitude,” Clark said.
Chief financial officer Clae Hack said if nothing was changed during the meeting it would result in a property tax increase of 8.54 per cent in 2024 and 6.04 per cent in 2025.
City administration compiled a list of business line recommendations that could total savings of over $3 million in 2024 and over $550,000 in 2025.
Some of the items on the list included the closure of the east compost depot, increased parking ticket penalty amounts, a reduction of the public housing subsidy and a reduction of snow removal at civic facilities.
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The east compost depot will be shut down after some discussion, with some councillors concerned about increased traffic at the west compost depot.
The depot being shuttered will save $132,000.
Operating hours for the landfill and material recovery centre are being cut, with the suggestion that one hour be pulled back at the end of each day. Administration says this will save $150,000.
Skunk inspection, trapping and relocation services for private properties are also being eliminated, saving $25,000 in 2024.
A reduction of the mosquito control treatment area that will tighten the buffer zone outside the city will also be implemented, saving $30,000.
A deferral of the Remai civic buildings and comprehensive maintenance phase-in passed, raking back $41,000 in 2024.
The phase-out of the $100,000 interest stabilization support over two years was also pushed forward, which will see a cost savings of $50,000 in 2024 but an increase of $50,000 in 2025.
An increase of $5 for the manual tax certificate/tax search fees and a $10 increase for the online tax certificate/tax search fees were passed, with the city saying that will save $282,000.
The city will also be increasing the city’s current and arrears monthly property tax penalty rate by 0.5 per cent in 2024. Administration said the original recommendation of 0.25 per cent would save $424,000.
An increase regarding parking ticket penalty amounts will be coming down as well. Late pay penalties will increase to $60 from $50. The reduced penalty rate will go up to $35 from $30.
The city will also be increasing lease revenue, which will save $200,000.
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A reduction in the budget for program research and design was also passed, saving the city $50,000.
A deferral of the playground and youth centre training full-time equivalent staff was passed, as well as the outdoor special events organizer, with the first deferral saving $19,300 in 2024 and $14,200 in 2025 and the second deferral saving $15,400 in 2024.
The Harry Bailey Aquatic Centre closure has had one-time savings redirected for both 2024 and 2025, which administration says will save $250,000 each of those years.
A reduction of the corridor planning operations funding also came down, saving $40,000.
There were six items left by the time council left for lunch, but Hack said they had over $2.4 million of the shortfall gap filled in for 2024, and $214,000 in 2025.
He said property tax rate increases were reduced to 7.72 per cent in 2024 and 6.02 per cent in 2025.
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