New year means new fees for Saskatoon residents
CTV
A new year is bringing plenty of new fees and costs for Saskatoon taxpayers.
A new year is bringing plenty of new fees and costs for Saskatoon taxpayers.
The city's highest tax increase in the last decade, 6.04 per cent in 2024, will cost the average homeowner about $10.47 more a month — based on a property value of $344,000.
An unprecedented four days of budget deliberations last month found little savings for residents. Not only are taxes increasing significantly, residents are getting less than they're used to.
After roughly six years of debate, garbage pickup has moved from a property tax-funded venture to a utility, with residents having a choice of three different sized bins.
"I have not been in favour of this from the very beginning," Councillor Darren Hill said last September when the decision was finalized.
"We're going to create a utility — bit of a shell game making the citizens of Saskatoon think they're not going to notice that we just created a new revenue stream of $14 million."
Three different cart sizes will be available on request, including the current large (360 litres), medium (240 L) and a small (120L or 135L) black cart.
