Saskatoon shaves 1% off looming tax increase — by passing new fees down to you

WATCH: Saskatoon council managed to shave one per cent off the proposed 2026 tax increase on Wednesday — by passing new fees down to you.

Saskatoon councillors managed to reduce the upcoming property tax increase by one per cent during Wednesday’s budget talks, but those savings will still cost you — depending on the services you use.

“The way this is going, we’re going to be here for many days,” Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer said during the second day of deliberations, as council painstakingly reviewed a list of 108 budget items, line by line.

Council saved residents millions of dollars on their tax bill largely from adjustments, moving money around to different reserves and passing more fees on to residents.

Now, going to the landfill for even a small amount of household items will cost $20, parking ticket fines are going up by $10, and it’s going to cost you $75 to have a city worker come clear a blocked sewer line, even if it’s clogged by the roots from a city tree — formerly a service provided free of charge.

“The only reason that service exists is for the property. So it really is council’s decision,” City Manager Jeff Jorgenson said.

Ward 2 Coun. Senos Timon was hesitant to pass new fees onto residents, who are already being squeezed with a sizeable property tax increase.

“They’re also paying taxes, so putting these on the taxpayer, I think, to me, is not reasonable,” said Timon, whose ward encompasses neighborhoods with lower mean incomes than the rest of Saskatoon and a higher percentage of homes in need of major repairs, according to data from Quint Saskatoon.

Passing costs down to residents in the form of new fees was a recurring theme of Wednesday’s meeting.

“I mean, there are user fees that are very specific and for a very specific purpose. Is it fair the rest of the city pays for that fee?” Ward 3 Coun. Robert Pearce asked, shruggin his shoulders.

“That’s discussion points, right?”

One place councillors voted to maintain funding was on items targeted to youth, like free city programming for kids and a sustainability initiative in schools that the city contributes funds towards.

Councillors managed to work through close to half of the 108-item list on Wednesday, setting the stage for a marathon session.

So far, residents are looking at increases of 6.43 per cent tax increase for 2026 and 5.75 per cent in 2027.

With more than half the list of line items and a number of reports yet to discuss, councillors have signaled their intention to stay late into the night Thursday.