News Releases

The Rush, Go Green with eBill! Contest is ending soon, switch and get in to win!

Choose to say goodbye to your traditional paper utility bill, and make the choice to rush and go green by signing up for eBill paperless utility billing,  it’s better for the environment, and more convenient for you!

All new customers who sign-up for eBill before November 30, 2016 will be entered into the eBill Contest. We’ll draw December 1, 2016 for a pair of 2017 Season Tickets to the Saskatchewan Rush Lacrosse Club. All valued utility bill customers currently on eBill are also automatically entered into the eBill Contest.

“Our eBill service has always been a customer focused initiative, and it also supports our environmental initiatives for the City as we are committed to savings, service and sustainability,” says Shelley Sutherland, Director of Corporate Revenue.

Choosing eBill instead of traditional paper billing, reduces paper clutter and a need to file. eBill is easy to use, secure and gives customers 24/7 access to their utility account history and current consumption charges

“If the City gained ten per cent more customers on eBill, we could save approximately 513 kilograms of paper per year,” says Sutherland. “Any time we can use less paper and importantly, leave less of a carbon footprint, savings add up.”

eBill customers receive an email notification when their bill is ready for online viewing at My Utility Account on the City’s website, saskatoon.ca.

It’s easy to sign up for your ebill!  Rush – get in to win and go green today!

Visit saskatoon.ca/ebillrush to sign-up or switch over, and for eBill Contest rules. Or, call 306-975-3200 for more information.

Saskatoon Transit has been forced to make major adjustments to afternoon and evening service on November 24, 2016. The Transit union continues to direct its members to take job action, this factor is compounded with an increased amount of sick time today has increased the pressure on the system.

“We will do our best to keep as much service on the road as we possibly can but with the refusal of over time by the union and an increased number of operators calling in sick, we have no other choice but to start pulling service,” says Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit.      

Today, Saskatoon Transit had 12 operators call in sick. This, added to the refusal of overtime has caused the cancellation of runs or “loops” on 11 school routes, 21 regular routes and will cause over-crowding on 13 regular routes during afternoon and evening service.  

“This is the first day that Transit union job action has caused us to make major cancellations to regularly scheduled routes,” says McDonald. “We expect this to continue over the next few days so we encourage riders to regularly check the apps and our website for service alerts.”

Saskatoon Transit will continue to keep customers informed by issuing service alerts when made aware of any disruptions or delays. Service alerts can be viewed at saskatoontransit.ca, saskatoon.ca, on Twitter at @stoontransit or @YXEserviceAlert, through Transit App and in Google Transit.

Transit administration may not be aware of all immediate job action but will make efforts to inform the public of delays or disruptions as the information is made available. During such times Saskatoon Transit will make every attempt to maintain an appropriate level of service based on the resources available, but may be forced to further minimize service if required.  Citizens are encouraged to plain their commute in advance and allow extra time to get to their final destination.

Individuals who do not have access to the internet can call the Transit Customer Service line at 306-975-3100 but are reminded that wait times may be longer than normal due to job action or higher than normal call volumes.

Access Transit is an essential service, and will continue operating as normal.

The City thanks our citizens, transit customers and our transit employees for their patience and understanding as we have attempted to reach a contract settlement with ATU. 

In a winter city like Saskatoon, a snow storm can happen any day, any time. When it snows, City crews sand, salt and plow high-traffic roads and priority streets to keep drivers moving.

“Our team is ready to hit the streets to keep roads clear this winter,” says new Director of Roadways, Brandon Harris. “Winter preparation is a year-round operation that we continue to build on to provide better winter roads for residents and visitors.”

Building on last year’s successes, several improvements have been made to the 2016-17 Snow & Ice Plan to ensure better winter roads for Saskatoon drivers.

“New this year, the City is outfitting all of its high-speed winter maintenance equipment with flashing blue and amber lights to be consistent with highway operations and other municipalities across the country,” says Harris. “Standard warning signals are a critical element of a safe operation, as driver confusion can result in unexpected or dangerous reactions.”

Some improvements that will impact residents and drivers include the type of salt used, broader use of pre-wetting for the application of sand and an updated Priority Street Network for snow grading.

Coarse Salt
This winter, roadway crews are piloting the use of a coarser salt for ice prevention and treatment. Coarse salt has been found to be more effective and less susceptible to blowing off the road because it can be ‘ground’ into ice. In addition, it adds friction to slippery road surfaces.  Innovative salt spreading techniques are also being tested to improve performance and reduce salt usage which will save money and decrease environmental impacts.

More Pre-Wetting
The City will also continue to use a technique known as pre-wetting, where a salt brine or specialty chemical is sprayed on sand before it is applied to high-traffic streets such as Circle Drive. Wet, heavy sand sticks much more effectively to the road in extreme cold conditions, providing increased traction on high-speed roadways. The program will operate with twelve sanders, an increase from four last winter.

Updated Priority Streets
The City’s Priority Street Network is updated to reflect changing traffic patterns and revised transit routes. Following a major snowfall, plowing and grading occurs in order of priority, beginning with high-traffic streets such as Circle Drive. Some streets will have snow grading that didn’t in previous years, while a few streets will be re-ordered as part of the snow event response. Priority streets are identified on the City’s Snow Grading Interactive Map which will be updated annually moving forward.

Other elements of the Winter Road Maintenance plan include:

• GPS tracking software pilot project to track the location of the sanders, where they have sanded and how much sand they have used.
• The 18-vehicle snow train that may be activated after a snow event to remove collected snow along the edges of Circle Drive, bridges and overpasses.
• Frequent removal of snow windrows (snow piled along the road during grading) from school zones and more clearly defined and expanded removal zones around schools.
• Snow grading and removal will occur as required along narrow, congested streets where snow windrows are not a practical option.
• Adjustments in the way the City uses private contractors for snow grading during and after a snow event, to maximize value and efficiencies.
• City-wide neighbourhood rut blitz may be initiated later in the season, when the snow pack reaches a minimum of 15 centimetres to prevent severe rutting.

Green Circle and Blue Square snow routes will once again be in effect. If an extreme snow fall occurs, a temporary Snow Route Parking Ban may be declared for city-wide snow grading. Residents are urged to find out which streets are along a Green Circle or Blue Square snow route on the City’s Snow Grading Interactive Map.

“City crews will be out there all winter, day and night,” says Harris. “Please watch for flashing lights that signal winter maintenance equipment is ahead and slow down for your safety and the safety of everyone around you.”

Be in the Know About Snow! Find out what happens in Saskatoon when it snows and how you can be prepared at saskatoon.ca/snow or download the Be in the Know About Snow poster (PDF).

Since tabling the 2017 Preliminary Budget on November 7, 2016, the following three significant changes have taken place:

• Higher assessment growth of $1.2 million than originally estimated, decreasing the mill rate by 0.61%;
• SaskPower’s proposed 5.0% rate increase on January 1, 2017, was reduced to 3.5% by the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel for a net increase of $306,300 or 0.15%; and
• On November 17, 2016 the Saskatoon Police Board approved a budget $699,600 higher than originally tabled or a 0.34% increase.

All put together, these changes have a net reduction to the property tax requirement of $235,900 or 0.12%, on the City of Saskatoon’s (City) originally tabled budget for a revised preliminary tax increase of 3.85%.

“The good news is that assessment growth is higher than what we were estimating in the budget by $1.2 million – so this is additional money we have available to offset expenditures,” says Chief Financial Officer Kerry Tarasoff.

However, Tarasoff points out there are a few changes to the expenditure side as well.

“As you may have heard, the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners has now set its budget and it is being tabled with City Council with a $ 699,600 increase over what is in the current budget already proposed.”

Additionally, Tarasoff explains the smaller SaskPower rate increase also has an effect on the amount of money the city has to use.

“While the lower rate is good news for citizens on their power bills, it has a negative impact to Saskatoon Light and Power and to the mill-rate,” Tarasoff says.  “This affects the amount of revenue we receive from our own power company and franchise fees from SaskPower – as a result the net impact is a $306,300 decrease in our general revenue.”

Tarasoff says the easiest approach to dealing with the new conditions is to build these three changes into the budget already tabled and re-table the 2017 Preliminary Budget on November 30, with a newly proposed 3.85% property tax increase rather than the 3.97% increase previously discussed.

Here is a breakdown of the individual impacts:

The revised budget proposal will be introduced to City Council at its Preliminary 2017 Corporate Business Plan and Budget meeting beginning Wednesday November 30.

To view the 2017 Preliminary Corporate Business Plan and Budget, Executive Summary and other related City of Saskatoon Financial Reports, visit saskatoon.ca/financialfuture.

Following the Governance and Priorities Committee’s unanimous confirmation of the City’s existing wage and benefits offer to the Transit union, communications with stakeholders have been enhanced about this proposal and the impact of the Transit union job action on citizens and transit users.

Jeff Jorgenson, General Manager of Transportation and Utilities says the City is making every attempt to provide service with as little impact on riders.

 “As we know, the Transit Union continues to direct its members to take job action,” Jorgenson says.  “So, Saskatoon Transit management has made adjustments in order to make service as predictable as possible.  Transit has implemented a new approach to high school service, which will allow us to re-deploy buses to cover primary service.

The result is the best solution for dependable school service and dependable core service.  If the Transit Union escalates job action, there could be further delays, cancellations and over-crowding on some buses throughout the system.”

Due to the current job action by the union, between 5% and 8% of service is not being provided. Operations managers are focusing on keeping primary transit routes running as usual. Services such as the high school “extras” that have been cut due to lack of staff are primarily buses where other parallel service is available.

Transit management will be identifying service that can be reduced or eliminated on a consistent basis with the least impact to riders. This will improve predictability of the service and will make it easier for riders to understand the service reductions that are expected until the end of job action or until job action escalates.

“We have and continue to be in direct communication with the school boards, the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, and the Saskatoon Health Region to advise them of the disruptions to the Transit service,” says Catherine Gryba, General Manager of Corporate Performance.

Gryba says communications are key in dealing with the Transit union job action and certainly speaking to transit employees directly is the most important goal.

“We want every transit worker to know that if they accept the contract agreement, everyone including past and retired staff who were employed from 2012-2016, will receive their back pay in time for the holiday season,” Gryba says.

Reassuring current and retired employees, Gryba stresses the Transit pension is secure and the pension deal that eight other City unions have accepted is the same deal being offered to the Transit union.

Transit employees will retain an excellent defined benefit plan that does not change by agreeing to the City’s offer. Retired employees will continue to receive their pension every month just as they always have.

“We are focused on negotiating an agreement and the City’s offer is about being equal to everyone,” she says. “If the Transit union wants more, there are only two sources where dollars would have to come from: taxpayers and bus riders, both of whom already pay their fair share.”

For the sake of all City employees – including transit workers – and for the sake of protecting the public purse, we simply cannot compromise on the pension changes and the sustainability plan for the pension.  The City has to make sure wages and pension benefits are not an unreasonable burden to taxpayers.

For facts on Transit contract negotiations, visit saskatoon.ca/factsontransit.