Saskatoon property taxes are going up: Here's how and why

Homeowners in Saskatoon will be paying more property tax in 2017.

Everyone in Saskatoon will pay an extra 4.18 per cent on their taxes.

For the average Saskatoon home worth $371,000, the tax bill will be$3,145 $126 more than 2016.

But it's not just the city that decides your tax bill. The provincial budgethad a huge impact on property taxes this year.

Now that the dust has settled, CBC News breaks down what the average tax bill in Saskatoon will look like.

City portion

Homeowners in Saskatoon will see a 2.55 per cent tax hike on the city portion of their tax bills next month. That translates to a$39 year-over-year jump for a home worth $371,000.

How we got here

In an effort to deal with an unexpected $9-million shortfall caused by the provincial budget, city councillors voted to hike taxes by an additional0.95 percentage points.

On top of an unexpected hike in the PST, the province scrapped its grants-in-lieu program, which saw payments made to municipalities in place of property taxes for SaskPower and SaskEnergy.

Because of a change in provincial tax policy and new shift between the business and residential rate, taxes for homeowners are going up 2.55 per cent.

Education portion

The provincial budget not only put the squeeze on cities, it also upped education property taxes. Average homeowners in Saskatoon will be paying an additional $79 in 2017 compared with last year.

How we got here

It's interesting math. The province actually lowered the education tax rate in 2017, butthe government raised education portion of property tax by 10 per cent across the province.In total,that meant people were paying more in educational property tax and it's expected to put$67 million more in provincial coffers this year.

Library portion

The smallest portion of the overall tax hike will go to Saskatoon's public libraries. Overall, homeowners will pay $8 a year more for libraries2017.

How we got here

Library funding is in flux after the provincial government initially cut, then backtrackedon, provincial library funding. It's still unclear what will happen, but homeowners in Saskatoon will still see a7.21 per cent hike in 2017.