Saskatoon City Council will begin budget deliberations Monday afternoon at City Hall.
Some of the more notable items from the preliminary budget released earlier this fall is that property taxes are expected to rise by 3.23 per cent next year, although council could shave that number down as they make their way through the budget over the next few days.
$152.9 million dollars has also been set aside for a new central library. City Council will still have to approve more than $80 million dollars in borrowing for the library.
Other items councillors will be discussing are plans for 3 new police officers in 2020 and four new officers in 2021 along with price increases for family passes at the Saskatoon Zoo to $85 a year and Nutrien Playland Playpacks to $22.50.
Throughout deliberations, council will discuss adding 59 full-time staffers to ensure service levels remain the same and that current staff aren’t stretched to the limits.
In the first ever multi-year budget created by the City of Saskatoon, property taxes are expected to increase by 3.54 per cent in 2021. For a home assessed at $371,000 dollars in 2016, that’s equivalent to about $66.83 a year in 2021 and with the proposed increase of 3.23 per cent next year, that equivalent to about $60.95 a year.
No increases to Transit fares were outlined in the multi-year budget.
Going back to the property tax increases for each year of the next two years, 0.87 per cent of each increase is dedicated to phasing in and funding for a curbside organics program which is expected to roll out in 2023.
Councillors will begin budget deliberations at 1 o’clock Monday afternoon.