Proposed city budget calls for 2.34 per cent increase to mill rate

Property tax bills could be getting a bit thicker in Regina this year, but not because of the pandemic.

In its proposed 2021 budget released Friday, the City of Regina is calling for a 2.34 per cent mill rate increase. That would amount to an increase of $4.13 per month for the average home valued at $315,000.

There’s also a proposed increase of three per cent to the utility rate. For the average household, that translates to an increase of $4.44 per month.

“Nobody wants to see a mill rate increase,” city manager Chris Holden said during a media conference. “I think we are in unusual circumstances as a country, as a province, as a city.

“People have uncertainty in their lives. I know they have financial challenges depending on each individual’s situation.”

But Holden said the city’s costs are increasing as well and the administration did as much as it could to find ways to hold the line.

The civic operations didn’t increase the mill rate at all, with the city managing to find about $5 million in efficiencies. That comes from things like reducing positions and moving cleaning to the daytime to save on electricity, as well as $700,000 in savings on travel.

“It’s difficult to ask residents to pay more. We’re looking for their understanding that costs do increase and a big commitment that we’ve made is when we look at opportunities to reduce and find savings and redistribute budgets, it’s our objective that we are not impacting service delivery to residents,” explained Holden.

The mill rate increase includes a 1.39 per cent hike in the city’s investment in the Regina Police Service and the continuation of dedicated mill rates to Mosaic Stadium (0.45 per cent) and the city’s Recreational Infrastructure Program (0.5 per cent).

The city is projecting a little over $12 million in costs because of the pandemic, between revenue losses and extra expenses. However, that won’t impact the budget.

The city said it’ll cover off those expenses with the $15.9 million dedicated to the COVID-19 Recovery Reserve, using funding from the federal Safe Re-Start Program.

Holden said the city administration presented a report to city council last year shortly after the pandemic began and it made some decisions which left the city in a relatively strong financial position coming into this year.

“There were some uncertainties in 2020. We set ourselves up to manage those, and in the end they didn’t have as significant an impact as we thought,” said Holden.

The city deferred about $7.2 million in capital monies last year, but those funds didn’t end up being needed so that money is being invested in aquatics infrastructure and the housing incentive program this year.

The city plans to invest $133 million in general capital funds for the maintenance, renewal and construction of infrastructure in Regina. As well, the city will spend $31 million from the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program on capital projects that were approved last year.

“The proposed budget includes combined capital spending of $40.9 million to improve Regina roads ($6.4 million from MEEP) and $19.7 million toward new and existing aquatic infrastructure ($12 million from MEEP),” the city said in a release.

MEEP funding will also be used for the Wascana Pool project, eliminating the need for the city to take on debt for that, but the city’s debt will rise in 2021 because of the loan expected for the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plan renewal.

City council is to begin debate on the budget March 24.

Mayor approves

Regina’s mayor won’t be pushing to lower that mill rate increase when it comes before city council.

“I am completely comfortable with the increase as it’s set forward,” said Sandra Masters.

Masters commended the administration for not increasing the budget for civic operations.

“It’s modest, it’s responsibly, I would say, and I’m pleased with the level of investments going forward into capital infrastructure as well,” said Masters.

She also defended the increase to the Regina Police Service budget, saying the service is behind when it comes to the ratio of officers to residents in the city.