Saskatoon city council hikes parking fines, penalties for late tax payments to shave down budget gap

City councillors try to bridge budget gap WATCH: Saskatoon city councillors take steps like raising parking ticket fees and cutting services.

Saskatoon city councillors moved at a quicker pace through its fourth special budget meeting of the summer Thursday.

After nearly eight hours of discussion at a meeting on Aug. 16, councillors found $1.1 million in savings.

On Thursday, councillors briskly moved through budget lines, ultimately shaving another $3.15 million off of the original $52 million shortfall revealed in the spring.

"As we go through these types of difficult decisions, it's a challenging time for everyone," Mayor Charlie Clark said at the outset of the meeting.

Thursday's progress reduced the estimated funding gap to roughly $21.9 for 2024 and less than $19 million in 2025. If no more savings are found, residents would be looking at a roughly 7.47 per cent property tax increase in 2024, and a 5.93 per cent in 2025.

At the start of the meeting, property taxes were to increase by 8.54 per cent in 2024 and 6.04 per cent in 2025.

"We're learning as we go in this unprecedented situation," Clark said. "We have cut funding to some departments, we have reduced services -- we're not hiring people that were asked for by admin to be hired."

Overalll, council has reduced the original $52 million funding gap by $28.9 million.

A majority of the savings on Thursday were from program cuts and increased fees.

The single biggest savings came from imposing a half per cent increase to property tax penalties.

Paying property taxes late now rises to 1.75 per cent per month for overdue taxes in the current year and two per cent per month for property taxes in arrears. Council is expected to save roughly $848,000 next year with the increase.

Council also agreed to increase parking ticket penalties, but by only half of what administration was recommending.

Council ultimately agreed to increase parking tickets from $30 to $35 if paid within 14 days. If tickets are paid after that, the penalty rises from $50 to $60.

Administration recommended a $40 for 14-day penalties and $70 for any point after that.

Other decisions included closing the East Compost Depot, closing the landfill one hour earlier, and shrinking the mosquito control treatment area buffer zone outside of city limits from five to 10 kilometres down to two kilometres.

Overall, Clark said balancing the desire of residents, program cuts and deferrals and fee increases is a tricky balance to find.

"Then you start to worry, is this trade off worth it?" Clark said. "Because we know people rely every day on the services we provide, and that's the balancing act we're needing to strike."

Another special budget meeting is scheduled for Sept. 20. Council has more than 50 budget lines to work through.