SASKATOON — The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Saskatoon city council to cut spending and stop the proposed tax increases at the next special budget meeting Tuesday, July 25.
“Saskatoon taxpayers can’t afford a double-digit tax hike,” Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie director, said. “Families are dealing with rising mortgage payments and sky-high grocery prices and the last thing they need are city councillors trying to grab more money from their pockets.”
The city is currently projecting a deficit of $51 million in 2024 and $22 million in 2025. This would result in a 17 per cent property tax increase in 2024 and a six per cent increase in 2025 if city councillors don’t find savings, states CTF in a press release.
The average home price in Saskatoon is about $381,000. That means a homeowner would pay $630 more per year in property taxes by 2025 with the proposed city property tax hikes.
“Mayor Charlie Clark and the rest of city council need to go through every single line of this budget to save taxpayers from a massive tax hike,” Haubrich said.
Bureaucrats warned city council in 2022 that it needed to do something to deal with the risk of year-over-year budget deficits. City officials also told councillors that the one-time $10 million pandemic-related funding from the federal and provincial governments would likely come to an end in 2024. That alone accounts for about 20 per cent of next year’s projected deficit.
The city spent $100,000 on a back alley light display. It also spent $67 million buying land for a new arena that hasn’t been approved.
“If the city can spend six figures stringing up some lights in a back alley, behind a bar, right next to a dumpster, then surely there’s still a bunch of fat on the budget,” Haubrich said. “Clark needs to roll up his sleeves and find some savings because taxpayers can’t afford massive tax hikes.”
