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City Council Committee defers decision on setting indicative rates: seeks more time to review all options

For immediate release: June 21, 2021 - 4:31 pm
CF21-2265

At today’s Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) meeting, members asked for a deferral to set the indicative rates for 2022 and 2023 at a later date. 

Special meetings are to be arranged with the Standing Policy Committee on Finance to undertake a deeper review of the proposed 2022 and 2023 estimated indicative rates and report back to GPC.

The purpose of the review will be to further explore options to address the property tax pressure residents and businesses face in this unprecedented year, and to recognize the funds required to maintain quality services and address strategic priorities of City Council. There will be opportunities for planned stakeholder engagement as part of this process.

GPC also asked the Administration to report back on the implications for the funding and operations of waste programs, including the city-wide organics program, specifically the proposal of possibly funding the organics program as a utility model. City Council previously decided to phase-in the cost of the city-wide organics program. The phased-in approach has a financial impact of 0.87% on the City’s mill rate in 2022 and 0.87% again in 2023.

Setting the indicative rate is not to finalize the property tax rates. It is the starting point in the budget building process and for 2022 and 2023, whereby the estimated rates presented are for a status quo budget – the property tax rates presented to GPC of 5.96% in 2022 and 5.42% in 2023 are the rates required to keep all City services and service levels the same as what residents have been receiving. 

City Council will make all final decisions on the City’s service delivery and service levels on November 29, 30 and December 1, 2021, at its budget review for 2022 and 2023.

The indicative rate guides the Administration in preparing the multi-year budget to allocate resources to the services, programs and initiatives within Council’s priority areas outlined in its 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, which will be released in early fall. 

Visit saskatoon.ca/budget for more information on the City’s 2022/2023 Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget process.