Regina city council approves 3.99% property tax hike

Regina city councillors voted to approve a 3.99 per cent property tax increase onMonday night slightly less than what had been previously proposed.

The proposed budgetreleased in Januarycalledfor a 4.18 per cent increase. That would mean ahomeowner with a houseassessed at $300,000 would pay an extra $101.76 per year, or $8.48 per month.

Instead of approving that level of tax hike, council voted to dip into last year's surplus to the tune of $400,000 to keep the rate below 4 per cent.

Thehike includes a special one-per-cent dedicatedtax increase forresidential road renewal, as well as a 0.45-per-cent increase to fund the new stadium.

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Citycouncillorsalso voted on hikes to water and wastewater rates. Those rates will go up fourper cent, onMarch 1. Thattranslates into an average increase of about $90.26per year ($7.52 per month). Any more increases would be subject to an upcoming review.

The increase is needed to maintain the system the city uses to pipe water in from Buffalo Pound Lake, more than 50 kilometres away,due to no reliable water source nearby, the city said.

The increase comes at a time when Regina residents already pay the second most for utilities among neighbouring cities in western Canada, with households paying about $1,805.07 in municipal utility charges. Saskatoon residents paid one of the lowest amounts at $1,202.18.

The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. CST with a discussion of the police budget, followed by presentations from individuals and groups with feedback on the operations and capital budget.

Councillors were still debating the budget, along with several amendments, as of 11p.m. CST.

Abig issue for council was whether or not the city should dip into its reserves to make the tax increase smaller. Some argued that adding money from the surplus wouldn't make much of a difference. Others said taxpayers deserve some relief.

Mayor Michael Fougere said it was "wholely justifiable" to return a portion of the surplus back to taxpayers.

"We are not taking away any service," he said.

Earlier in the proceedings, council unanimously approved an amendment by Coun. Barbara Young to provide one-time funding of $193,000 from the 2016 general operations surplus to the Wascana Centre Authority to expand the parking lot at Candy Cane Park.

Also approved was an amendment put forward by Coun. Bob Hawkins for a $100,000 funding boost to Economic Development Regina for its Regina Advantage program. That money will also come out of the 2016 surplus.

Groups weigh in

Among the groups that appeared before council were the Circle Project, the Friends of the Regina Public Library andthe Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

John Hopkins, CEO of the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce, said a survey of its members found that the the majority of the 107 respondents about 50 per cent would support cuts to city programs and services combined with a lower mill rate increase.

"Now is not the time for a significant tax increase given the reality that many of the drivers of our economy are impacted either directly by commodity prices or indirectly due to cost-cutting efforts of the provincial government," he said.

"For clarity, we are not saying that there should be no tax increase, but rather, an increase that's lower than the one that is being proposed."

When asked what programs and services the chamber's members would like to see cut, Hopkins suggested possible alternatives to raising taxes, such as dipping into the previous year's surplus and reviewing the city's spending on things such as parks and fleet maintenance.

"[We're] not saying we should cut this program or cut that program, but rather look at areas where we might be able to find some efficiencies," he said.

The Association of Regina Realtors said while it supports the general direction of the budget, it also wants to see a lower property tax increase. It also asked council to consider having more user fees over tax increases.

Bike Regina, a cycling advocacy organization, urged council to consider more spending for bike lanes and ensure that existing lanes receive higher priority for snow clearing in the winter.

Brandon Wright, the group's director of education, said Regina rates "last" compared to other Prairie cities like Edmonton and Saskatoon when it comes to cycling infrastructure.

"With our four bike lanes, really Lorne, Smith, Wascana Parkway and the shared portion of McCarthy, which is shared with parking; I wouldn't really call that a bike lane we don't have a lot of mileage in terms of lanes," he said.

Increases since 2009

City manager ChrisHoldensaid in January that the original proposedincrease would beneeded in order to avoidcuts to city services. Revenues are down $8 million from last year and the city will receive five per cent less in provincial sales tax grants due to aslower economy.

"We've had some challenges in terms of how do we maintain service levels, maintain services, make the investment in infrastructure we need, and still maintain, you know, an affordable mill rate increase and utility rate increase,"Holdensaid.

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Last year, the municipal portion of taxes increased 3.3 per cent, while utility rates went up by five per cent.

Taxes have gone up every year since 2009.

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Big ticket items in the 2017 city budget include:

• $84.5 million for police.
• $42.6 million for the fire department.
• $42.9 million for the capital budget.
• $9.3 million for snow clearing.