Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
20h ago
More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
The second day of Saskatoon City Council’s multi-year budget deliberations featured a lot of heavy lifting and another spirited discussion on the city’s future with waste and organics.
Coun. Bev Dubois looked to push the organics program back to 2026 with lower property tax numbers on the file.
“Citizens can only pay so much,” she said.
In March, council decided to move ahead with the organics program with a property tax increase of one per cent for the following four years.
Dubois’ ask Tuesday was to reduce the hike to 0.6 per cent and subsequently move the program further back into the future.
It ended up being denied by a vote of 6-4, with councillors Ann Iwanchuk, Troy Davies, Randy Donauer and Dubois voting in favour.
Dubois was successful in another ask of increasing the price of the optional Green Cart Program by $10 per year to $65 before April 30. Following the deadline, the cost will sit at $85.
The two-hour back-and-forth between councillors surrounding the amendments with the organics program left some frustrated, including Coun. Mairin Loewen.
“My frustration lies with the amount of time that we’ve spent on this issue. I think we sent a signal to the community that this decision had been made a number of months ago,” she said.
The several amendments looking to push back the start date and price tag were defeated, leaving council with the original March decision moving forward.
“I can’t recall an issue in my time on council where we, sort of, rehashed the same items as many times as we have when it comes to waste and organics,” Loewen said.
“Ultimately, the outcome was the same.”
‘No big adjustments’ as day continued
At the beginning of the Tuesday deliberation, it was revealed that the property tax increases did go down again.
Property tax increases of 3.19 per cent for 2020 and 3.41 per cent in 2021 kicked off the deliberations.
Mayor Charlie Clark said throughout the day there weren’t any significant changes made, but the property tax isn’t set in stone just quite yet.
“There were no big adjustments made today, and there are a few items that have some operational impact that could affect the mill rate tomorrow.”
Clark said he is looking forward to Wednesday’s final day of deliberations surrounding the city’s capital priorities.
Much of Tuesday’s deliberations dug into the service lines, which related to the operations of the city.
Business lines such as transportation, utilities, urban planning and development, corporate asset management, and land development passed unanimously.
Much of the preliminary budget, which was released in October, held up during council’s deliberations.
Clark said getting through Tuesday meant not many big highlights, but they worked their way through the numerous existing reports.
“We’re really trying to strike that balance to build a great city for people to live in, that remains affordable.”
Short bench in chambers
Tuesday’s deliberations showcased a short council. Coun. Darren Hill was not in attendance, but he attempted to be available by phone.
But Clark refused Hill’s votes on business lines as he wasn’t involved in the entire discussion.
Hill challenged the decision but was defeated.
He later left the call and didn’t participate in the rest of budget deliberations.
Coun. Troy Davies exited the deliberations following a short break prior to 8 p.m.