The City of Regina says residents won’t be seeing a tax break after the provincial budget was tabled last week.
Saskatoon city council announced a plan on Thursday to drop property taxes by .91 per cent. However, Regina likely won’t experience the same tax break.
Both cities had budget shortfalls after the grants-in-lieu program was eliminated from the province’s 2017 budget. The loss in funding was passed onto taxpayers through higher property tax rates. This year’s provincial budget saw SaskEnergy grants-in-lieu of tax payments reinstated.
Saskatoon plans to reduce residential property taxes, pending council approval. Regina has no plans for a reduction. The City says Regina was disproportionately impacting by eliminating the program.
“Overall, the impact is different for each municipality,” City officials said in a written statement. “In Regina’s case, the change is essentially net revenue neutral and, as a result, no impact on the City’s approved 2018 General Operating Fund Budget.”
Last week, Mayor Michael Fougere said city council will not be reopening the books.
The Canadian Tax Payers Federation says this year’s provincial budget isn’t necessarily giving more money.
“Both governments have been increasing taxes for some time now,” said Todd MacKay, prairie director of the federation. “Taxpayers simply can’t afford to pay more every single year. We need the legislature to hold the line on taxes. We also need city hall to find more efficiencies so that they don’t have to keep going back to the taxpayers for more money.”
The city approved a 4.34 per cent mill rate increase in February.
With files from CTV Regina's Taylor Rattray
