Saskatoon budget deliberations day three: What you need to know

Another day of big decisions for Saskatoon City Council got underway on Thursday, with councillors facing a list of 62 budget scenarios to work through as they search for savings.

The city’s transit and fire budgets, a variety of potential service cuts and affordable housing initiatives are up for consideration as well.

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The property tax increase for 2026 currently stands at 6.43 per cent, with another hike of 5.76 per cent in 2027. For a home valued at $394,000, that would mean an extra $12.66 per month in 2026 and $12.05 per month in 2027. The goal, according to Clae Hack, the city’s chief financial officer, is to cut the tax increase for 2026 down to approximately 4.9 per cent.

One of the first big items council considered on Wednesday was whether to reduce the Youth Sports Subsidy from its current level of 40 per cent to 35, 30 or 25 per cent in 2027, a move which would save the city up to $1,005,000. The subsidy currently supports 30 organizations around the city.

The motion to reduce the subsidy was defeated.

A variety of community grants were also debated on Wednesday morning, including cutting a grant for a provincial detox centre on Avenue O South by up to 50 per cent in 2027. Several councilors, including Ward 3’s Robert Pearce, Ward 5’s Randy Donauer and Ward 10’s Zach Jeffries, questioned how the grant was established and whether lines regarding what the city was responsible for were becoming blurred.

City manager Jeff Jorgenson said he didn’t recall how the grant actually came about, but Ward 4 Coun. Troy Davies said it was “time to move on,” and to have the Saskatchewan Health Authority take over funding.

Ward 4 Coun. Troy Davies said it was time for the Saskatchewan Health Authority to take over funding for a detox centre on Avenue O South. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

Council ultimately voted to reduce the grant by 50 per cent in 2026, saving $54,100, and to eliminate it altogether in 2027, saving an additional $108,200.

Community recreation changes, fee changes and other items

According to Andrew Roberts, director of recreation and community development, as more cities across Canada move to 100 per cent cost recovery for indoor arena use, the city of Saskatoon will also do so.

Two options before council included increasing rates by 6.5 per cent and increasing summer ice rates. Over two years, it would save the city $271,500. The motion was carried.

Options to close the George Ward Pool, to reduce pool operating days and hours and to increase outdoor pool fees were all defeated.

Fees for non-Saskatoon residents for programs like swimming lessons will go up by 50 per cent beginning in 2027, while leisure centre operating hours will be reduced by one-half hour per day, saving $176,050. According to the administration, the time can be reduced by 15 minutes at the start and end of the day, and will primarily only affect drop-in users.

An option for the Saskatoon fire department to begin charging between $150 to $250 for lift assists for seniors or others who may need assistance was also discussed, but will not proceed at this point. According to Doug Wegren, Saskatoon fire chief, the department already has the option to charge residents or organizations, like group homes or seniors homes, that may abuse the system.

“It feels super icky,” said Ward 10’s Zach Jeffries, responding to the item’s inclusion on the budget list.

“The for-profit care homes, they use this,” said Ward 9’s Bev Dubois noting that in 2024, there were 1,723 requests for lift assists. Of those, 898 were from users requesting the service more than three times.

A motion for a report back on how the city is deploying its lift assist program, and to explore a partnership with the SHA for cost recovery, passed unanimously.

Transit fares and service hours

Reducing transit hours was an option also put forward to council potentially saving $624,000 in 2026, and $208,000 in 2027 during mid-day, or by removing one hour of service at the end of the day to save more than $665,000 over two years.

Speaking to council, Robert Clipperton, with the group Bus Riders of Saskatoon, urged councilors to re-consider reducing hours, adding that many residents who work in service jobs, seniors, and others – use transit during all hours of the day, so transit reliability and dependability is vital.

“It feels like cutting off your nose to spite your face,” said Ward 10 Coun. Zack Jeffries, adding that it would go against the city’s efforts to try and attract increased ridership.

Pearce said he’d also vote against it, especially as someone who started recently riding local routes.

Mayor Cynthia Block added that she, too thought it would be a mistake.

“I don’t think we are doing ourselves any favours,”she said.

The motion to reduce hours mid-day was defeated, while no councilor expressed any interest in debating an end of day service reduction option.

Clipperton also spoke to a report that outlined several options for a transit fare increase, which was later given the green light.

“We have no objections to a proposed fare increase,” he said, noting that many riders had been expecting fares to go up.

“What we are concerned about is what’s missing,” he added, noting that there was no in depth look at low – income fare structures.

After the presentation, Pearce noted, “This is all academic if we’re not going to somehow enforce fare collection.”

Terry Schmidt, general manager of transportation and construction noted that some options for fare enforcement were already being considered. They will be presented in a report back to council at a later date.

Ultimately, low income adult and low income high school fares will not increase, single tickets for adults and students will go up by between fifteen and 25 cents, fares and passes for seniors will increase by five per cent, and post -secondary semester passes will increase by 10 percent.

Additional agenda items and updated property tax numbers 

Councilors ended Thursday with debate over a series of capital expenditures, including a one- year pilot project for Indigenous peacekeepers, affordable housing incentives, the Vic Rempel greenhouse revitalization, and addressing communication gaps in emergency services radio communications systems.

Funding would come from the Reserve for Capital Expenditures (RCE), rather than affecting property taxes directly.

According to Hack, each year there’s about $2.3 million in the RCE and generally $500,000 is left in a contingency fund. That would leave $1.8 million for a variety of projects in 2026, and $1.96 million for projects in 2027.

As of the end of budget deliberations Thursday, Saskatoon property tax increases stood at 6.17 per cent for 2026, and 5.39 per cent in 2027. For an average home valued at $394,000 it would mean an additional $12.14 per month in 2026, and $11.26 per month in 2027.

Budget meetings will continue into a fourth day on Friday when council will debate plans on enhanced transit and downtown safety, and the affordable housing budget incentives.