From the four options presented by Administration to Saskatoon’s Governance and Priorities committee about how to pay for the emergency snow removal response and any future large snowfalls, an amended option which blends two of them was approved. The motion was passed for Administration to bring back a report which looks at paying back the estimated $20 million from this most recent snowfall through a mixture of reductions to the 2024-2035 Major Capital Plan and a possible a phased-in dedicated increase to property taxes specifically for the emergency snow response.

The tax option as it stands right now, not including some funding being taken from the Capital Plan, is a proposed 0.75 per cent a year, to be built up to around $8.4 million by 2027. It would mean about a $15 per year increase for the average Saskatoon home assessed at $371,000. The motion also included looking for funding options from the federal government, knowing that other cities are dealing with the same unprecedented weather events.

Councillor Zach Jeffries presented the motion, noting that the public should know that there would be no increase to taxes this year, and depending on how things go during budget deliberations in November, there may be no increase in relation to this levy at all, depending on the situation. All of the Councillors agreed that no one knows how many of these large snowfall events are in our future.  Having one in 2020 and then again, this past December is unprecedented, but it could be the way of the future. The recommendation will now be presented to City Council for final approval.