Regina councillors seek more information on proposed $9M in added spending

New spending, totalling nearly $9 million, was examined by members of Regina City Council at a pre-budget meeting on Tuesday.

A report detailing proposed service enhancements was the subject. If approved in the budget, those service enhancements would increase property taxes by 2.34 per cent.

For an average home, that works out to $65 per year.

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Acting chief financial officer Jeff May explained that if council wants to implement any or all of the possible service enhancements – while keeping an increase of property taxes at or below 5.81 per cent – it would have to find offsets.

However, in response to a question from Ward 8 councillor Shanon Zachidniak, May said the 5.81 per cent target is a best guess. He explained that staying below Saskatoon will keep Regina in the bottom 25 per cent of comparable cities, the goal set by council.

Ward 6 councillor Victoria Flores suggested every cut has a cost – financial and otherwise – down the road, and asked for a report outlining the costs of not implementing the proposed enhancements.

“What we can do to reduce those costs is important. That’s something that I will not argue with anyone,” she said. “I think that’s a very valid concern. But to me, in addition to saying no to things, I feel like we also have to be able to make some tough calls and ensure that we don’t pay for today’s savings with interest later.”

However, Ward 2 councillor George Tsiklis suggested every additional spending request should come with a proposed offsetting cut.

“We’re not locking next year’s budget this afternoon,” he said. “What I am worried about, though, is drifting to December with a big wish list and not enough room on the tax bill.

“We can’t spend like the tax ceiling isn’t real.”

Proposed enhancements include $1.3 million for the city’s concrete distress program, just over $1 million for the city’s accessibility plan, and more than $1 million in transit improvements, including service to the new Costco on the city’s west side. May explained the list came from staff, who were asked to come back with a list of things they considered important.

He stopped short of ranking them in order of priority.

“Prioritizing is always the hardest part, and I’m often quite grateful that that’s council’s job and not mine,” he said. “I think overall you would want to take into account what these enhancements do to achieving the goals under your strategic plan.”

Zachidniak requested a list of priorities from each department.

Councillors Clark Bezo for Ward 10 and Ward 1’s Dan Rashovich raised concerns about repairing sidewalks in areas that would appear to have less foot traffic, such as light industrial areas. The administration responded that these sidewalks typically lead to bus stops.

Another topic of discussion was a request for eight additional full-time equivalent employees in financial services. The department’s requests total $930,000 in additional spending. May said the money is needed because the workload has grown over the years.

“The city has grown, and the service it has provided has grown over the past decade. However, new resources for back-office support, such as accounting, haven’t,” explained.

Exact locations for proposed new paid parking zones not yet clear

Council also asked whether one of the items, an expansion of on-street paid parking, belonged on the list, since it would bring in revenue.

Deputy city manager Kurtis Doney said it’s there and not just part of the base budget document because it’s an item that should be debated in a public forum.

“It’s a sensitive topic when you’re expanding (paid) parking. So, it’s a public conversation that council should make a public decision on,” he said.

However, the administration couldn’t provide a more specific description of where the new paid parking zones would be expanded to. The report only suggests the areas around the two hospitals, and along Victoria Avenue and Angus Street in the Cathedral area.

Director of community standards Faisal Kalim said if it’s approved in principle during budget deliberations, it will then take some work to plan exactly where the new parking zones would be. They would then be defined in the necessary bylaw changes.

He added the bylaw would also have to take into account whether there are homes affected by the changes.

Tsiklis requested a report on the cost and implications of implementing a “Project Listen First” in time for the 2028 budget process. He described it as a citywide engagement process on what city services should be prioritized.

The capital budget forecast will be outlined at another informational council meeting on Sept. 22, followed by the forecast for the utility budget on Oct. 6.

No decisions will be made until budget deliberations in December.