News Releases

The City of Saskatoon is preparing its first multi-year budget during a global pandemic. Despite the uncertainty as to when restrictions are lifted and people respond to a post-pandemic environment, the City Administration is recommending that the Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC) of City Council set the 2022 and 2023 indicative rates at their next meeting, Monday, June 21. Setting the indicative rate guides the Administration in preparing the budget by allocating resources to the services, programs and initiatives that help achieve Council’s strategic priorities.  

Driven by growth and inflationary pressures, the Administration is estimating an indicative rate for each of the next two years that covers the increasing costs of service delivery. To that end, the Administration is proposing annual average operating expenditure increases of three percent, the lowest in several years.

“The City’s expenditure increases are driven primarily by growth, and inflation,” says Tarasoff. “Administration has made efforts to limit the increase in budgetary expenditures with the aim to lessen the potential property tax increase while maintaining existing service delivery levels.

“Through the Administrative budgeting process, the Administration already cut $7.5 million from the initial indicative budget for 2022. These adjustments reduced the potential indicative property tax rate by approximately three percentage points.”

Addressing inflationary and growth pressures while delivering existing services and maintaining service levels has proven to be challenging for the Administration as non-tax revenues fail to keep pace.

Although the Administration estimates revenue increases of $3.15 million in 2022 and $5.06 million in 2023, for the indicative rate, these increases are well below what the City would need in order to keep pace with changes in the economy.

Growth in user fees and government operating transfers are below population changes and inflation. This revenue gap causes significant pressure on our starting point, the indicative rate. 

“Preparing the 2022-2023 indicative rates produced many challenges. This is because there are many financial pressures from declining non-tax revenues and longer-term challenges to increase that revenue due largely to the impacts of COVID-19,” says Kerry Tarasoff, Chief Financial Officer. “The tough job is to strike the right balance between delivering on City Council priorities, service levels, budget realities and the long-term financial stability for the City.”

The Administration will require the Committee’s direction on setting a property tax target for preparing the 2022-2023 budget for deliberation later this fall. The options are:

• to set the property tax rate equal to the indicative rate;
• add to the property tax rate above the indicative rate, which provides the ability to consider implementation of some of the budget options that will be presented in August; or
• decrease the property tax rate below the indicative rate, which would require reductions to the budget that could change existing service levels. 

The estimated indicative rate increase is 5.96% in 2022 and 5.42% in 2023. These indicative rates do not include the expected short-term impacts from COVID-19. 

The City estimates the fiscal impact from the COVID-19 pandemic to be $16.8 million in 2022 and $10 million in 2023. To address this impact, the City will require spending restrictions and a fiscal transfer from either the federal or provincial government (or a combination of both) like the Safe Restart Program funding that was provided in 2021.

Setting the indicative municipal property tax rate is an important first building block in the development of the City’s multi-year business plan and budget. It is important to remember this first step is not the final property tax rate. City Council will finalize its decisions at the 2022-2023 budget deliberations set for November 2021.

Visit saskatoon.ca/budget for the Administrative Report to GPC andmore information on the City's 2022  2023 Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget process.

On Monday, June 21, the administration will present a report to the Governance and Priorities Committee recommending that the City in-source collections service for the city-wide curbside organics program slated to begin in spring 2023. On October 22, 2018, City Council approved the establishment of a new waste management service level of bi-weekly year-round waste and organics collection for all curbside residential households.

The options being presented are as follows:

• Option 1 ($3.0–3.3 million annually): In-source city-wide collection of organic waste.
• Option 2 ($3.0–4.5 million annually): Out-source city-wide organic waste collection to a third party for a fixed term.
• Option 3 ($4.2–5.65 million annually): In-source organic waste collection for a portion of the City and out-source the balance to a third party for a fixed term.

“Multiple factors were considered before arriving at this recommendation,” says Brendan Lemke, Director of Water & Waste Operations. “We are making a recommendation that puts us in the best position to operate this new program most efficiently and with the least impact on our existing resources.”

Decision factors included cost, cost stability, life cycle cost, span of control and labour relations implications. The recommended Option 1 was most favourable in all categories, as it would:

• utilize existing City resources to maximum efficiency, including collections equipment and customer service infrastructure to ensure successful implementation;
• provide the greatest span of control to adjust routing and service levels;
• minimize risks associated with a third-party provider, including disruption to service and ability to maintain a high level of customer service and public relations;
• minimize overall life cycle cost when considering both waste and organics programs and provides the highest level of certainty of costs over the long term; and
• minimize impact to current workforce engaged in organics collections.

Review the full admin report and attachments.

Progress updates and a decision history can be found on the Curbside Organics Program webpage.

After a year of COVID-imposed hiatus, the Reconciliation Saskatoon Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation is back for 2021. In adherence with ongoing public gathering restrictions, the event will look a bit different than in past years. Pre-COVID, this annual event attracted thousands of people to Saskatoon’s riverbank to walk together.

The Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation represents the commitment of our community to acknowledge the past in order to forge a stronger future. It’s a public demonstration of support for residential school attendees, and an opportunity for people to consider how they are fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action in their lives and work. The walk takes place in conjunction with National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21), an important moment to consider what Indigenous peoples have contributed to the founding of Canada.

Melissa Cote, Director of Indigenous Initiatives at the City of Saskatoon, says: “This is an opportunity to either make or reconfirm a commitment to reconciliation. As you’re walking, consider what you’re doing to address racism and discrimination in our community. Think about residential school survivors and how you’ll honour them this year through your engagement in reconciliation. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate.”

Eugene Arcand, a residential school survivor and member of the Saskatoon Survivors Circle, says: “I attended a residential school from 1958 to 1969. I remember the separation of our families as soon as we got there. It wasn’t until somewhere between Grades 3 and 6 where we got to take Sunday walks altogether in the springtime. This was the only time where we could mix with the girls, talk to our relatives and friends. I’ve talked to various students from different schools and they all had a similar experience of going for a walk on Sunday afternoons. That walk meant a lot to all of us no matter what residential school we went to. And now we have a walk called Rock Your Roots in honour of these survivors; we really sincerely thank everyone who takes part.”

Shirley Isbister, president of the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI), says: “The Rock Your Roots Walk for Reconciliation is an opportunity to honour First Nation, Métis and Inuit residential school survivors. It is a day to celebrate cultural diversity and a day to remember that Truth must come before reconciliation. Please join us in rocking our roots!”

In order to keep everyone safe, residents are invited to plan to walk individually or in small groups. Participants may choose to wear their cultural regalia or the reconciliation colours of yellow, blue, and red during their walk. This dress demonstrates the diversity and inclusivity of our community. People can further showcase their support by sharing a photo to social media with the hashtag #RockYourRoots.

Reconciliation Saskatoon, which the City co-chairs, will also hold a Live Virtual Event on June 21st featuring stories, entertainment and messages from residential school survivors. The video will be available anytime on June 21st at beaconnectr.com/june21. You can also join the event page at facebook.com/ReconciliationSaskatoon or change your Facebook Profile Picture Frame to increase awareness – visit facebook.com/profilepicframes and search Rock Your Roots by Bang Up Productions. 

Today, the City of Saskatoon announced that work is now completed on the Digester and Heating Upgrades project at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

The 3-year, $48.2 million project is funded by the Government of Canada ($9.5 million) and Government of Saskatchewan ($9.5 million) through their New Building Canada Fund, with a $29.2 million investment by the City of Saskatoon.

“Investments in modernizing wastewater infrastructure address communities’ needs and help protect the environment. By partnering with Saskatchewan to upgrade Saskatoon’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, our Government is supporting the local economy while ensuring residents benefit from improved water quality and healthier local ecosystems,” said the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities.

“Reliable local water systems are important to position Saskatchewan communities for growth and attract new business,” Saskatoon Riversdale MLA Marv Friesen said on behalf of Don McMorris, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Government Relations. “The Government of Saskatchewan is proud to invest $9.5 million toward this important wastewater infrastructure project in Saskatoon, which will benefit the local economy, residents and environment.”

“As our city continues to grow, it’s important to maintain our high standards and stewardship in protecting people and property downstream from Saskatoon,” said Mayor Charlie Clark. “The investments in a new digester and heating upgrades at the Wastewater Treatment Plant will help us meet demand by improving capacity, sustainability, as well as maintaining our high-quality standards into the future. The expansion includes an exciting sustainable energy recovery process that will recycle biogas to be used as fuel in boilers and solid matter as nutrients for local and nearby crops.”

The new digester is the Wastewater Treatment Plant’s fourth and will improve capacity to allow the plant to maintain Water Security Agency processing standards whenever another digester is taken out of service for maintenance. The digesters are large circular tanks that hold the solids removed during the wastewater treatment process. The solids are deprived of oxygen to allow bacteria to form and break the solids down, and methane biogas is produced during the process. The methane biogas helps heat the WWTP, which in turn, reduces reliance on the use of natural gas for heating. Boiler upgrades and the installation of a methane biogas treatment filter were also a part of the project.

To learn more about the Digester and Heating Upgrades project, visit saskatoon.ca/digester.

Summary of Facts

• Construction on the fourth digester and Heating and Gas Scrubbing Building began in 2019 and was completed in 2021, ahead of schedule and under budget.
• Digesters are the last stage in the wastewater treatment process. The solids removed during the treatment process are held in an oxygen deprived environment to allow bacteria to form and break the solids down.
• The digesters produce two types of renewable resources; biogas (energy) and biosolids (soil nutrient).
• This expansion includes a new sustainable energy recovery process that will condition biogas to be used as fuel in the boilers while the solid matter is used as nutrient for local crops.
• Construction of a fourth digester tank improves capacity and allows the City to maintain Water Security Agency processing standards when another digester is taken out of service for maintenance purposes.
• Upgrades to boilers were also made to accommodate the additional heat that will be required to run all four digesters.
• Now that construction is complete, residents can no longer see an open flame at the Wastewater Treatment Plant as the flare has been replaced with two enclosed flares.