New year means new fees for Saskatoon residents

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A new year is bringing plenty of new fees and costs for Saskatoon taxpayers.

The city's highest tax increase in the last decade, 6.04 per cent in 2024, will cost the average homeowner about $10.47 more a month — based on a property value of $344,000.

An unprecedented four days of budget deliberations last month found little savings for residents. Not only are taxes increasing significantly, residents are getting less than they're used to.

After roughly six years of debate, garbage pickup has moved from a property tax-funded venture to a utility, with residents having a choice of three different sized bins.

"I have not been in favour of this from the very beginning," Councillor Darren Hill said last September when the decision was finalized.

"We're going to create a utility — bit of a shell game making the citizens of Saskatoon think they're not going to notice that we just created a new revenue stream of $14 million."

Three different cart sizes will be available on request, including the current large (360 litres), medium (240 L) and a small (120L or 135L) black cart.

For the first six months, the city will charge a fixed rate of $9.92 per month to allow people to swap out their cart for the one they need.

Beginning in June, the smallest cart will cost the average resident $28.98 per year, with the medium cart costing an additional $49.34 and $70.97 more for the large cart.

After the initial cart exchange, a $30 fee will apply to each home exchanging to a different cart size.

Water and wastewater rates are increasing by an average rate of 4.6 per cent.

Paid parking is also going to cost more.

The city is adding 130 new paid spots in the warehouse district and the central industrial area surrounding downtown, with the hourly rate increasing from $2.00 to $2.50 per hour.

Fines for parking tickets will increase from $30 to $35 and from $50 to $60 for tickets unpaid 10 days after issue. The city will also charge an additional 15 cents convenience fee on each transaction on the ParkedIn App.

Council was divided throughout a series of prolonged budget meetings in the summer and fall.

The budget later passed in a 7-4 vote with councillors Hill, Troy Davies, Bev Dubois and Randy Donauer voting against.

"I'm disappointed in the budget. I was hoping that it would be four per cent or less," Dubois said after the vote.

“The taxpayer has a lot of extra costs coming up in the new year."

Business license fees for all categories are increasing by 10 per cent.

Recreation is also going to cost more, as rates and fees are increasing at leisure centres, the Forestry Farm Park and Zoo and city-operated golf courses.