Your City of Saskatoon taxes are going up more than was first estimated in October. After 3 days and evenings of budget deliberations, the calculations are a 3.7 per cent property tax increase next year and 3.87 per cent in 2021. It’s Saskatoon’s first multi-year budget. Administration had projected a 3.23 per cent increase back in October and 3.54 per cent in 2021.What i5 works out to is an extra $5.82 a month next year and $6.28 a month in 2021 for a home worth around $371-thousand.

A few highlights include $100-thousand for a business case study for a new downtown arena and convention centre, which would begin after a site is selected, $10-million for the curbside organics program which will launch in 2023 and $2-million for the City’s growth plan.

Assistant Fire Chief Mike Ralston spoke to City Council to advocate for funding for a rail notification system as part of an Intelligent Transportation System. Ralston says in 5 years, they have had 186 delays at rail crossings and in 2019, there have been 63 delays so far. Council approved a budget of $180-thousand for this project.

$200-thousand was approved to replace existing holiday lighting that needs replacement and to extend the lights on 20th Street from Avenue E to H. They had previously been removed because they were damaged.

City Manager, Jeff Jorgenson, says the extra time it took to prepare a 2-year budget and the long hours of deliberation for City Council is worth it because it will save the City money in the long run. “For every extra hour put in 2019, there will be at least a ten-fold benefit in 2020. We will save tens of thousands of hours and savings in the millions in 2020 compared to this year. Jorgen says it’s part of the city’s transformational process. The budget book is buuilt now for 2020 and 2021, and now they can invest those hours elsewhere.