REGINA - City council approved the General Operating and Capital portion for the 2025 budget, which has seen decreases in several categories.
Originally, the General Operating and Capital Budget was set at an 8.5 per cent mill rate, which would have cost the average homeowner an additional $17/month or $204/year.
This stemmed from large mill rate increases of the Regina Police Service (RPS) and the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL).
However, both service partners approached city council with a decrease in the mill rate. On Monday, the RPS came back with a 1.99 per cent mill rate, which stemmed from a $800,000 decrease in salaries.
The RPS mentioned the decrease came from finding other ways to hire staff, which they originally were looking at bringing in 13 more officers for 2025.
However, as RPS chief Farooq Sheikh noted, the RPS will continue needing mill rate increases to reflect inflation, bargain agreements and other factors.
Overall, the RPS will receive $122.4 million from the city in 2025.
As for REAL, they came in asking for a 2.21 mill rate increase for $12.7 million back in Jan. On Monday, they reduced their ask by $1.2 million down to $11.5 million.
An amendment was put forward to further reduce REAL’s budget by $300,000, which was approved by city council.
With this passing, REAL will now receive a 1.73 per cent mill rate increase for approximately $11.2 million in 2025.
As for the city’s other partners, there were no changes to the Economic Development Regina’s (EDR), who asked for an additional $403,000 or a 0.13 mill rate increase. The Provincial Capital Commission also got $2.7 million, the same amount as last year.
The other part of the mill rate is 1.47 per cent for civic operations. City council approved a 0.07 mill rate increase to fund two full-time employees to help support the internal auditor. Additionally, another amendment was passed which will see a reduction in project spending by $1.55 million or a 0.5 per cent mill rate.
The last piece is the already implemented 2.01 dedicated mil rate for three separate projects.
Adding this all together, Regina’s mill rate for general operations in 2025 is set at 7.33 per cent, the largest it’s been in over a decade.
"We've prioritized low mill rate increases across the board, and that's not just city operations," said Mayor Chad Bachynski.
It took city council three days to get passed the general operations portion of the budget. With all the talk about trying to reduce the mill rate, Bachynski said, "everybody cares deeply about making sure that we try to get to the right number. And that's what I saw through the process."
No changes to the proposed utility operating budget
Unlike the general operating and capital portion of the budget, the utility aspect didn't last long for discussions.
City administration has stressed the utility budget hasn’t increased enough over the past few years to meet inflation.
The utility budget helps the city fund its water and wastewater services. With an increase in pipes breaking throughout Regina, city administration has stressed for more revenue.
Kurtis Doney, manager of city operations, said Asbestos Cement (AC) pipes breaks usually cost the city anywhere between $3 million and $4.5 million yearly for all the maintenance.
With that in mind, all city councillors voted unanimously to pass the utility rate increase. Of the 5.82 per cent mill rate increase, 4 per cent of that will go towards maintaining and enhancing water service, while the other 1.82 per cent is funding the Intensification Infrastructure and the Industrial Development Charge Reduction.
Adding both the utility rate and operating budget increases, the average homeowner will pay around $25 more a month or nearly $300 a year.
Responding to a question about how the mill rate increase can benefit the city long-term, Bachynski said, "if we have a plan in place to get some of these things built [and replaced], it will be cheaper now than later."
Library dilemma
There were mixed reactions from councillors regarding the 5.5 per cent dedicated mill rate the Regina Public Library (RPL) requested to help pay the upwards of $119 million in debt funding they would receive from the city.
Coun. George Tsiklis (Ward 2) and Shanon Zachidniak (Ward 8), argued there hadn't been much planning or consultation done by the library.
Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo also questioned how the mill rate would pay off a new central library, as it would only add up to around $1.5 million for the RPL each year.
Coun. David Froh (Ward 3), who is on the RPL board, mentioned the money would be used this year for a Request for Quotation and a Request for Funding, so the library would have a final plan later this year for their new central branch.
Froh also said it doesn’t look for this new council to back out of a commitment made by previous ones.
Despite the issues some councillors raised, city council approved the dedicated mill rate and the 4.58 per cent increase for the RPL in 2025.
When you add up the final total between the library, utility, and general operating budget, the average homeowner will pay $26.41/month or $316.92/year.
The increase will take effect for property taxes starting in June.
