Tax Ratio Change is Redistribution, Not Tax Increase

City  Council today approved a tax ratio of 1.59; the ratio used to be 1.75.

In simple terms,  the City’s annual budget determines how much it will need to ask from property owners to pay for services like garbage pick up or snow clearing.

The tax ratio policy determines how the taxes needed to cover those costs are split up; or putting it another way: what share of the taxes that different property classes like residential and commercial will pay. 

So, the approved ratio of 1.59 means that for every $1.00 in property taxes that a residential property pays, a commercial property will pay $1.59 on an equivalent assessment.

Here's what it looks like: 

The tax ratio shift has not affected Saskatoon's standing as having some of the lowest property taxes among Canadian prairie cities.