Saskatoon council votes to increase property taxes 6.7 per cent next year

After nearly four full days of marathon budget deliberations, Saskatoon city councilors voted 9-2 to pass the 2026 and 2027 budget, with property taxes at 6.7 per cent for 2026, and 5.81 per cent for 2027.

For a home assessed at $394,000 it will mean an increase of $13.15 per month in 2026 and $12.20 per month in 2027.

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Ward 9 Coun. Bev Dubois, and Ward 3 Coun. Robert Pearce voted against it.

Ward 4 Coun. Troy Davies said whether people agree with the result, it was done respectfully.

“We had some great debates with my colleagues on council and I appreciate the way it was handled,” he said, noting that for him the approval of a new transit police team was a big win.

“We’ve heard about the safety issues that are happening with those that are on transit. We’ve heard from the drivers themselves who are our front line workers who were at risk and felt they were at risk,” he said.

During the final hours of deliberations, councillors voted to approve a new Saskatoon Police Service dedicated team for 2026, made up of four officers, a sergeant and a vehicle. Another four officers and a vehicle will be added in 2027 for a total cost of $1.6 million.

A new affordable housing incentive was also approved, at a cost of $1.75 million in both 2026, and 2027.

Mayor Cynthia Block said the process went well, even though there were some difficult decisions to be made.

“When we continue to do more with less, at some point we are asked to do less with less. And I think on weight, we made good decisions about striking that balance to make sure that resident had the core services that they rely on every single day, and that we’re looking to the future,” she added.

She also believed council kept in mind that affordability across the board — from groceries to gas, bills and more — continues to be an issue for many people just like it is for the city.

“How do you strike that balance? I think that you ensure that you’re funding the things that you must, and that you also have an eye to the future to make sure that we are not missing out on opportunity to ensure that we can continue to grow the tax base in the longer term,” she added.

As for the length of the budget deliberations, Block said four days were “not on her bingo card,” but that budgets can’t be rushed.

The last time deliberations continued into a fourth day was in 2023, when council was also faced with a $40 million budget shortfall.

Ward 9 Coun. Bev Dubois was one of two councillors who voted against approving the final budget on Nov. 28, 2025. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)

Speaking with reporters, Dubois said she would have like to see property taxes kept under six per cent.

“It all goes back to when I talk all the time about the city and supporting the core services of our city,” she said.

As a first time city budget rookie, Pearce said he had taken part in many other budget processes, the city deliberations were very different and he was disappointed at times.

“A city with a $1.7 billion budget — everything from snow removal and grass cutting to fire dispatchers that are critical to the job.

“I had hoped we would have done better in terms of a reduction.”

Clae Hack, the city’s chief financial officer, told councillors near the beginning of deliberations that the city may end 2025 with a small surplus of around $2 million, but guided them against using that information during their deliberations because it was only a preliminary estimate. The final number won’t be known until early 2026.

Read more:

• Dozens of crashes reported on Saskatoon roads as city declares snow event
• Sask. Premier Scott Moe shares optimism on pipeline MOU, criticizes B.C.’s David Eby