Saskatoon city council to discuss revenue streams to fund new arena

Saskatoon’s potential Downtown Event and Entertainment District could see five revenue options supporting the development of the project, potentially raising as much as $21 million annually.

A report from KPMG, which will be looked over at Wednesday’s governance and priorities committee meeting, addresses non-property tax revenue options including an accommodations tax, facility fee, tax-increment financing, vehicle rental tax and parking fee adjustments.

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It said that if each revenue tool was utilized it could generate $6.7 million a year on the low end and $21.4 million a year on the high end.

The accommodations tax would see a mandatory charge applied to short-term hotel stays, but city administration said amendments would be needed to the Cities Act to implement such a tax.

An additional one-per cent tax increase would generate $1.6 million annually, a two-per cent increase would raise that to $3.1 million, and a three-per cent increase would bring in $4.7 million annually.

A facility fee would see a charge applied to event tickets, with the options of charging a percentage of the ticket price or a fixed rate.

The report said a $4.50 charge to a ticket could generate $2.3 million annually, a $6 per ticket charge could raise $3 million and a $7.50 increase could make $3.7 million per year.

Tax-increment financing would see property tax revenue broken down into a base stream and a growth stream.

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The reports said over a period of 25 to 30 years, an incremental increase would be added to the growth stream, which would then help repay the costs of the development.

It said $2 million to $9 million annually could be generated through tax-increment financing.

A vehicle rental tax could be implemented, seeing anywhere from a 5 per cent to 15 per cent tax, generating between $0.5 million to $1.6 million annually.

City administration noted that it would not be adding a vehicle rental tax, adding that only the B.C. government has implemented such a tax and is “virtually non-existent in Canada.”

An adjustment to parking fees could also bring in more revenue, potentially extending pay parking hours in the downtown and Riversdale areas. That could bring in $0.3 million to $2.4 million annually.

The funding plan for the Downtown Event and Entertainment District is expected in early 2024.

City administration noted that that they will refine the estimates into more accurate projections, due to KPMG’s analysis being based on many high-level assumptions.