'Roads, sewer, water': Saskatoon councillor says city needs to spend less and get 'back to basics'

City of Saskatoon spending too much in wrong areas; city councilor City Councilor Darren Hill says City of Saskatoon spending needs to be focused more on core services.

On the heels of a bleak municipal budget forecast, one Saskatoon councillor says the city needs to focus on its core responsibilities and leave the cost of providing social services to other levels of government.

"We need to get back to the basics of services that a municipal government is meant to provide. Roads, sewer, water, we have been creating programs and services in the areas of social services," Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill told CTV News.

"It's great to do when you have the money, the resources to do that. But those are the responsibility of provincial and federal government, not municipal government. We have very limited resources," Hill said.

Hill's comments come in the wake of a preliminary budget forecast released by city administration last week warning of a combined $75 million shortfall — $52.4 million for 2024 and $23.2 million for 2025.

City administration floated the idea that a nearly 19 per cent property tax increase would be required if no action were taken, as well as scenarios where increases between 6 and 13 per cent could occur depending on how much spending could be cut.

Hill believes it was "irresponsible" for administration to "be throwing those numbers out" before council had a chance to discuss the budget.

"These numbers have put a lot of fear in too many citizens in Saskatoon. I've had calls from senior citizens that are concerned about the ability … to stay in their homes," Hill said.

"These are [administration's] numbers. Councillors had no input on this."

Hill also thinks city administration should have taken a harder look at ways to save money before releasing its preliminary report.

"I think that our budget process is slightly flawed that administration comes with us in terms of 'here's numbers on how to maintain business as usual,'" Hill said.

"They should have been more aggressive on reviewing every single business line and every [full-time position] that exists within the corporation before coming out to us with numbers."

While Hill acknowledges the role inflation has played in driving up costs, he argues city administration is placing too much emphasis on inflationary pressures in its self-assessment.

"To blame it almost entirely on inflation is reckless. It's ridiculous. There are municipalities that have had surpluses in their last budget cycles and there are municipalities that are not looking at numbers like this in their forthcoming budget deliberations," Hill said, calling the shortfall a "spending issue."

"There have been council decisions in other years where new programs and services have been added, and every time you add a new program and service, you have to fund that in the future years. I have voted against a number of budgets in the previous seven years because I didn't believe them to be sustainable."

While Hill believes a reduction in services is likely unavoidable, one potential cost-saving measure he suggests is reducing the frequency of organic waste pick-ups during the winter months.

"Does the green bin need to be picked up every two weeks in the winter? Absolutely not. No single household produces that much kitchen waste that that green bin needs to be picked up every two weeks," Hill said.

"There's going to be a number of other operational savings to be had. But we will be looking — I'm confident — at some service reductions."