Saskatoon’s Charlie Clark says 2023 was a year of financial challenges

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark says 2023 was a year of both uncertainty and big financial challenges.

It began with a city-wide plan to clear at least 34 centimetres of snow that fell between Christmas of 2022 and Jan. 1, 2023. The city enacted its Roadways Emergency Response Plan for Extreme or Unusual Snow Events, and spent nine weeks clearing every street in the city.

It came with a huge cost – about $18 million, according to Clae Hack, the city’s chief financial officer.

From there, Clark said, the curveballs just kept coming.

“Realizing that inflation was impacting our budget, and facing the shortfall for 2024 and how to deal with that, as well as the ongoing issues of homelessness, addictions and mental health has definitely meant that we’ve had our hands full,” said Clark.

In June, Hack announced that the city was facing a $75.6-million budget shortfall in 2024 and 2025, along with a potential 18.56 per cent property tax hike if that shortfall was left unmitigated. It was something Clark called a “very challenging situation.”

A series of four special budget meetings were held over the summer, closing the gap to about $40 million, and in late November council held a record-breaking four-day budget meeting, further reducing the gap by another four million and settling on a property tax hike of 6.04 per cent for 2024.

The challenges for the city continued, as an increase in crime was reported in the neighbourhoods around the Emergency Wellness Centre. In late 2022, the centre was moved from Saskatoon’s downtown to a former Jehovah’s Witness church in the Fairhaven neighbourhood.

In February, more than 250 residents of Fairhaven and Confederation Park came together for a community meeting, along with city councillors and members of the police and fire departments. No one from the wellness centre attended.

By late September, the centre announced it would ban anyone not following drug and alcohol policies at the facility.

Clark said the growing number of homeless people in Saskatoon was cause for the city to examine its role, while not taking on roles that other levels of government are responsible for.

“Our fire department has done incredible work to focus on proactively going out and identifying people who are in encampments and working with them, and trying to connect them with services,” the mayor said.

Clark praised the “unprecedented” co-ordination between the police and fire departments, as the two organizations shared data about hot spots and consulted with a variety of community organizations.

“We’ve been very loudly advocating to the provincial government for co-ordination,” he said.

When a co-ordinated plan on homelessness, addictions and mental health was laid out in Saskatoon in early October, Clark said it was an important step not seen before.

“We’re going to continue to work with the province on that level of co-ordination,” he added.

But it wasn’t all a series of hits for the city. Clark pointed to the number of newcomers to the city – 14,000 –  and the 8,000 jobs created, as proof that the resources Saskatoon has are becoming more important to the world.

“(There were) some significant announcements and investments, like the BHP Janzen Phase Two, two new urban reserves in our city and growing opportunity and partnerships with First Nations and Indigenous partnerships. So, it’s really been a year that’s been full and dynamic,” he added.

According to Clark, 2023 marked the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic struck where he believed people got out to enjoy more of the city’s festivals and community events.

“I think the re-connecting has been important for people. At the same time we’re seeing … that COVID is still impacting us in terms of those mental health issues, in terms of those addictions issues,” he added.

Still, Clark said he believes Saskatoon is now proving to be the “economic engine” of the province in terms of helping the world through the businesses and research happening in the city.

That includes the work being done on a new arena and downtown entertainment district.

Clark said he sees a strong future for the city through its volunteers, entrepreneurs, Indigenous communities, and those of diverse backgrounds.

“The world is changing, and we have to find a way to change along with it,” he said.