The City of Saskatoon is looking to increase its debt limit to nearly $1 billion to accommodate future borrowing for major projects. On Wednesday, councillors approved a recommendation from the city’s finance committee to up the debt limit to $973 million from its current limit of $558 million, set in 2014. The city will need to seek approval from the Saskatchewan Municipal Board to boost its borrowing limit. Administrators say the extra room will help the city pay for major projects including a water treatment plant expansion, new water mains, and a waste water treatment plant expansion. “The city’s debt forecast has historically been conservative, resulting in less debt required than originally forecasted,” the report said. “Although the city’s debt is not expected to peak until 2031, the administration is recommending proceeding with the increase to the debt limit now as these capital projects will need to be approved prior to any design or procurement processes taking place,” administrators wrote in a report to council. “Approval of these budgets, with borrowing as a funding source, can not move forward if the debt limit is not increased.” The city says the current borrowing limit is insufficient to cover the costs of these projects, which are expected to bring the city’s debt to $814 million by 2031. According to the city, these figures do not include borrowing for the downtown event and entertainment district. The proposed debt limit increase passed unanimously through the financial committee without any opposition, but it still needs to go before city council. Administrators say in addition to the existing debt of $282.6 million, council has already approved borrowing for an additional $196.4 million in debt for the new central library, major capital funding plan and the LINK bus rapid transit system. The city says Saskatoon has one of the lowest debt levels among western Canadian municipalities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Regina.
