The North Saskatoon Business Association is urging Saskatoon’s City Council to think like business owners during budget deliberations, which could continue through Wednesday. Executive Director Keith Moen commends the efforts to reduce the proposed tax increase originally cited in August, but he suggests, “The City must make further efforts to reduce taxes even more.”

Moen says the economy is still in the recovery stage, leaving businesses to pivot and control their expenditures. According to Moen, a sampling of NSBA businesses has experienced an average property tax increase of about 65 per cent from 2011 to 2021, while the consumer price index only experienced an average of 19 per cent in the same time period.

He points to neighbouring jurisdictions like Edmonton where the property tax increase is 1.8 per cent and Winnipeg, which will have a 2.33 per cent tax increase. That’s opposed to the 3.51 per cent suggested by Saskatoon Administration, going into the budget deliberations.

The NSBA recommends the City implement a hiring freeze across all departments, with the exception of the Police and Fire Departments, to help balance the budget, rather than higher tax increases.