Regina stadium tax moving up another notch in 2016

The amount of money Regina taxpayers contribute to the new football stadium is going up again.

Starting in 2013, a special levy was added to help pay for the $278 million stadium, the future home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and that amount goes up every year.

It was a 0.45 per cent hike in the first year, followed by an additional 0.45 per cent in the second year, continuing for another eight years to 2022.

For ahomeowner who paid $2,000 in city property taxes in 2012, for example, the total stadium tax would have been about $9 in 2013, and would be $40 in 2016 and about $110 in 2022. After that, the tax stops escalating.

Deputy city manager Brent Sjoberg updated council about the stadium at the special budget meeting on Monday where a 3.3 per cent tax increase was approved including this year's 0.45 per cent stadium-related hike.

"We laid out a long-term financial plan for 30 years," Sjoberg told council. "Basically that [stadium tax] funds the repayment, including both the capital cost portions and, over time, supports the operating cost as well."

The 33,000-seat stadium in Evraz Place west of the downtown is about 70 per cent builtand will be ready in time for the 2017 football season, officials say.