Earlier this year the City recently identified a significant funding gap for the upcoming 2024 and 2025 budget. This gap was identified as a part of our budgeting process and is not an indication of the final property tax impact for 2024 or 2025. Nor does this funding gap impact the 2023 budget.
Background information about the gap and how it came to be can be found on earlier posts or this City report.
To address these pressures City Council directed Special Budget Meetings be established to go through each budget line. This approach uses both Administrative and Council perspectives to make intentional decisions about funding and service levels. As many of these decisions have impacts on services, I want to ensure everyone has time to review the recommendations and provide me with their feedback. All decisions made at this meeting will lead to the creation of the 2024 and 2025 budget, with final decisions being made during Budget Deliberations on November 28 - 30, 2023. Please do not hesitate to get in touch and share your feedback at any point in this decision making process.
This post summarizes the decisions before Committee at the August 31, 2023 Special Budget Meeting and what decisions were made the previous Special Budget Meetings. Please note the full agenda is available here.
Outcome of Previous Meetings
To date, meaningful progress has been made to reduce the City’s projected funding gap by a total of $25.8 million in 2024 and $2.3 million in 2025. This means the 2024 funding gap has already been reduced by over half. If left unmitigated, which is highly unlikely, the gaps currently equate to property tax increases of 8.54% in 2024 and 6.04% in 2025.
The results from the June and July meetings can be found here. Here is a detailed list of decisions made at the August 15, 2023 meeting:
- No inflationary increase for line painting and sign replacement materials
- Reduce the sweeping of soft surface (turf) medians to once every 2 years
- An expansion of the Parking Pay Station Zone to incorporate approximately 130 additional on-street parking spaces within the Warehouse District and Center Industrial areas
- An additional rate increase of 10 per cent for all pet licensing
- An additional rate increase of 3 per cent for the rates and fees for cemetery services
- Reduction to the contribution to the special events reserve in 2024 and 2025
- No increases and maintain the same level of funding for grants and community organization support
- Defer the addition of a Fire Services Asset Management staff position until 2025
- Remove the addition of a permanent Communications Consultant position within Saskatoon Fire Department
- Defer the addition of a dedicated Operations Dispatch Manager position until mid-way through 2024
August 31 Agenda Items
We will begin discussions on August 31 with unfinished items from the August 15 Special Budget Meeting. Detailed information on each line item and what will be discussed can be found here: wardeight.ca/july_special_budget_meeting and wardeight.ca/august_15_special_budget_meeting.
The order of items is as follows:
- Recommended Business Plan Options
- Environmental Health Business Line
- Taxation and General Revenues Business Line
- Land Development Business Line
- Arts, Culture and Events Venues Business Line
- Recreation and Culture Business Line
- Urban Planning and Development Business Line
- Corporate Governance and Finance Business Line
- Utilities Business Line Information
- Corporate Asset Management Business Line Budgetary Information
Details for the new business lines can be found in the sections below.
Recommended Business Plan Options
This report looks to slightly modify the process for our Special Budget Meetings. The report recommends discussing all the options put forward by Administration first, and then go back through each Business Line to add any other options for consideration.
To achieve an early November release of the budget document, only changes made up until the end of August will be incorporated into the document. While additional decisions can be made after August, these will be not be incorporated into the budget document and instead will be identified through an accompanying report to the budget document. To try and get the most decisions made, tabling all Administration recommendations at once may speed up the deliberation process.
As a reminder, Administration is recommending the following 21 options:
- Environmental Health Option 1 - Closure of East Compost Depot $132,000 (2024)
- Environmental Health Option 2 - Adjust Operating hours at the Landfill and MRC $150,000 (2024)
- Environmental Health Option 3 - Eliminate Skunk Inspection, Trapping and Relocation Service for Private Residential Properties $25,000 (2024)
- Environmental Health Option 4 - Reduce Mosquito Control Treatment Area $30,000 (2024)
- Arts, Culture & Event Venues Option 1 - Defer the Remai CBCM Phase-in $41,000 (2024)
- Taxation & General Revenues Option 1 - Phase out of the $100,000 Interest Stabilization Support over two years $50,000 (2024) and ($50,000) (2025)
- Taxation & General Revenues Option 2 - An Increase of $5.00 for the Manual Tax Certificate/Tax Search Fees and a $10 Increase for the Online Tax Certificate/Tax Search fees $282,000 (2024)
- Taxation & General Revenues Option 3 - A 0.25% Increase in the City’s Current and Arrears monthly Property Tax Penalty Rate $424,000 (2024)
- Taxation & General Revenues Option 4 - An Increase to Parking Ticket Penalty Amounts of $50 to $70 for late pay penalties and $30 to $40 for the reduced penalty rate for parking offences related to parking in a pay parking area where purchased time has expired. $560,000 (2024)
- Land Development Option 1 - Increase Lease Revenue $200,000 (2024)
- Recreation & Culture Option 1 - Reduce Budget for Program Research and Design $50,000 (2024)
- Recreation & Culture Option 2A - Defer Playground & Youth Centre Training FTE $19,300 (2024) and $14,200 (2025)
- Recreation & Culture Option 2B - Defer Outdoor Special Events Organizer $15,400 (2024)
- Recreation & Culture Option 3 - Redirect one time Savings from HBAC Closure in 2024 and 2025 $250,000 (2024) and $250,000 (2025)
- Urban Planning & Development Option 1 - Reduction to Corridor Planning Operations Funding $40,000 (2024)
- Urban Planning & Development Option 2 - Reduction to Public Housing Subsidy $25,000 (2024)
- Corporate Governance and Finance Option 1 - Reduce the Payroll Expenses Estimate by $200,000 in 2024 and Re-Evaluate in Future Years $200,000 (2024)
- Corporate Governance and Finance Option 2 - Reduce the Fusion Operating Phase-In by $250,000 in 2024 and 2025 and Continue to Rely on Reserves for the Fusion/SAP Program $250,000 (2024) and $250,000 (2025)
- Corporate Governance and Finance Option 3 - $185,000 in 2024 and $90,000 in 2025 Deferral/Exemption for the City from the Storm Charge $185,000 (2024) and $90,000 (2025)
- Corporate Governance and Finance Option 4 - 50% or $55,500 Deferral of Information Technology Reserve Increases $55,500 (2024)
- Corporate Asset Management Option 1 - Reduced Snow Removal at Civic Facilities $50,000 (2024)
If these 21 options were approved as is, this would reduce the 2024 funding gap by $3,034,200 and the 2025 funding gap by $554,200.
The full report is available here.
Corporate Governance and Finance Business Line
Corporate Governance and Finance includes the following business lines: Assessment and Taxation, City Clerk’s Office, City Solicitor’s Office, City Manager’s Office, Corporate Support, Debt Servicing, Financial Services, General Services, Legislative, Revenue Services, and Service Saskatoon.
Administration is recommending the following four options:
- Option 1 – Reduce Payroll Expenditures
- Option 2 – Reduce Fusion Operating Phase-In
- Option 3 – Deferral/Exemption for the City from the Storm Charge
- Option 4 – Defer Information Technology Reserve Increase
If these four options were approved as is, this would reduce the 2024 funding gap by $690,500 and the 2025 funding gap by $340,000.
Other options available for consideration:
- Option 5 – Defer New Property Tax Funded Positions
If all options were approved as is, this would reduce the 2024 funding gap by $2,508,700 and the 2025 funding gap by $521,600.
The full reports are available here.
Utilities Business Line Information
Utilities includes the following business lines: Saskatoon Light & Power, Storm Water Management, Water, Wastewater and Waste Services..
Administration is recommending the following five options:
- Option 1 – Eliminate Investment Practice by SL&P for New Street Lighting
- Option 2 - Update Schedule of Fees in Bylaw 2685- The Electric Light and Power Bylaw, 1940
- Option 3 - Change Non-Residential Water and Sewer Connection Boundaries
- Option 4a – Eliminate Service of Auguring Customer Sewer Connections
- Option 5a – Revise Net Metering Incentive Program, grandfathering customers prior to November 2019
- Please note that I will have to recuse myself from Option 5a due to a Conflict of Interest.
If these five options were approved as is, this would see savings of $775,000 in 2024.
Other options available for consideration:
- Option 6 - Create ROI from Storm Water Utility
- Option 7 - Increase Water and Wastewater Utility Rates to Increase ROI
- Option 8 - Extend Repair Time on Watermain Breaks
If all 8 options were approved as is, this would see savings of $2,116,000 in 2024.
For all these options rather than allocating these savings to increase the Return on Investment from the respective utilities, the Administration is recommending that these savings be maintained within the utility to offset the need to increase utility rates and/or address asset management pressures.
The full reports are available here.
Corporate Asset Management Business Line Budgetary Information
Corporate Asset Management includes the following business lines: City Accommodations, Facilities Management, and Fleet Management.
Administration is recommending the following option:
- Option 1 – Reduce Snow Removal at Civic Facilities
If this option was approved as is, this would reduce the 2024 funding gap by $50,000.
Other options available for consideration:
- Option 2 – Transfer of external lease savings
- Option 3 – Reduce Inflationary Impact of Fleet Replacement Reserve
- Option 4 – Defer New Property Tax Funded Positions
If all 4 options were approved as is, this would reduce the 2024 funding gap by $725,300 and the 2025 funding gap by $382,400.
The full reports are available here.