$153M for downtown library in preliminary Saskatoon budget

Crunching the numbers on city budget From CTV Saskatoon's Francois Biber: Headlining the budget is a $153 million central library. Here are the details.

SASKATOON -- A preliminary two-year budget for the city includes $152.9 million for a new downtown library.

$87.5 million would come from borrowing, while more than $45 million would come from Saskatoon Public Library reserve funds. Land sales and fundraising would cover the other $19.6 million.

Clae Hack, the city's interim chief financial officer, said while the project hasn’t been approved by City Council, it is in the 2020 budget at the request of the Saskatoon Public Library Board.

Administration anticipates providing more information November and the final decision will be made at budget deliberations by council, Hack said.

"Similar to every other project included in the preliminary business plan and budget, City Council will have the final say during budget deliberations so at the end of the day the decision is theirs and we’ll update the approved budget based on any decisions they make at that time."

Saskatoon Public Library board Chair Lisa Erikson previously told CTV News that the new library would be 149,000 square feet, compared to the 78,000 square-foot Frances Morrison Central Library.

The current library is more than 50 years old and was built for a population of 115,000 in Saskatoon, Erikson said in a September interview.

"So we're in a position of being really strained within that facility and there are many deficiencies within that building right now that can strain library service," she said.

The proposed funding plan would add $5 per year to the average property tax bill from 2020 to 2015, and less in 2026.

As for funding for a new downtown arena and convention centre, Hack said that project is still in its preliminary stages and the city is only budgeting for a business case.

A two-year plan

The budget summary outlines operating and capital expenses as well as revenues for the city in 2020 and 2021. It’s part of the city’s approach to draw up multi-year budgets.

The budget still has to be approved by City Council, and could change before being tabled at City Hall for budget deliberations in late November. Administration proposes tax increases of 3.23 per cent in 2020 and 3.54 per cent in 2021.

Hack said while the proposed tax increases "aren’t always ideal," the city tried to strike a balance between maintaining current service levels with the growth pressures and reduced revenues the city has seen.

"We are facing many challenges, we have increasing expenditures from growth and inflation pressures and on the revenue side of things our operating revenues are not always keeping up with the growth and expenditures so we did our best to balance maintaining services and also keep a manageable property tax increase for residents," Hack said.

Additional capital spending includes: $39.3million in 2020 and $62.8 million in 2021 for upgrades and maintenance for the water treatment plant, $36.2 million for upgrades for Saskatoon Light and Power infrastructure, and just over $2 million to refurbish or replace buses over the next two years.

City adding more full time employees

In the 2020 budget cycle the city proposes to add 58 full-time positions and 40 positions in 2021. Hack said these positions are for the most part growth-related.

With more neighbourhoods, park space and roadways, “we need more staff in order to maintain those and keep the city’s current service level at its current standard,” he said.

Without adding these new positions the city would risk stretching its current staff, possibly affecting service levels, he said.

“Even though it seems high … it is a 1.5 (2020) and one per cent (2021) growth in total staff equivalents for the city and that’s actually under the city’s projected growth rate of 1.5 per cent over the next few years,” he said.

Police get seven more offices, multiple support staff

The budget for the Saskatoon Police Service includes an increase of 4.4 per cent in 2020 and 4.0 per cent in 2021. Three new officers would be added in 2020, even though the budget says growth of the city suggests seven officers are required.

Four new officers are budgeted to be added in 2021 – though again, the budget suggests more are needed due to growth.

Two more communications staff would be added to keep up with call volumes along with an executive director to address a recommendation in the operational review.

A psychologist to address mental health needs for officers and a new programmer analyst for video evidence retrieval are also included.

Increase to recycling bills

Residential recycling bills will go up $1.73 per month (30 per cent) in 2020, and then another nine cents in 2021 to a total of $7.47 per month.

$686,100 has been added for what the budget calls "underfunded" compost depots, part of a strategy to address the structural base budget waste deficit. The budget includes $10 million over two years for capital funding for a curbside organics program.

Cash for rising fuel costs

Saskatoon Transit would see an increase of more than $3.4 million over two years. $1.2-million would go toward rising fuel costs, including the carbon tax, and $1.34million would pay for increases to staff salaries as per collective agreements.

The budget calls for $1.1-million to implement the Active Transportation Plan. Additional money for railway crossing and intersection improvements is also included.