Saskatoon mayor’s contempt for property tax more than just talk

Prior to recent city budget talks, Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block derided the use of property taxes to fund cities as a remnant of the “era of the horse and buggy.”

Block told a Saskatoon business luncheon that Canadian cities need a “new deal” instead of relying on taxes levied based on the assessed value of homes and businesses.

“Cities right across the country know that’s necessary,” Block said. “And I think the only way we get there is if we lean in together.”

Taxpayers in Saskatchewan might be more inclined to listen to Block and others seeking tax reform after city councils finalized their budgets for next year with some whopping property tax increases.

In Regina, property owners will face the biggest hike in history at 10.9 per cent, surpassing the previous mark of 7.33 per cent set just a year before. 

Saskatoon residents, meanwhile, will face a jump of 6.7 per cent, quite likely the second highest in history. In Moose Jaw, council passed a budget with a property tax increase of just under seven per cent.

Many in Saskatchewan are likely eager for change. But what are the actual prospects for a new funding model?

Tim Tierney, an Ottawa city councillor and first vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said the revolution may already be happening.

Tierney said in a recent interview that FCM is engaged in “good conversations” with the federal government on the need for a new approach. The key to lobbying efforts on behalf of municipalities is maintaining a narrow focus, Tierney said.

“We’re not going in with a whole laundry list of things,” he said. “ We’ve been pretty clear on housing and homelessness, infrastructure needs, crime and safety. That’s been our big three asks. 

“We haven’t pivoted on that and it seems a lot of the announcements [the federal government is] making are really related to that.”

FCM lobbied governments two decades ago at the federal level to create a fund fuelled by gas taxes to provide dependable money for municipalities. That source morphed into the Canada Community-Building Fund.

In 2024, FCM made a formal pitch to double annual transfers from the federal government to municipalities to $5 billion a year, along with a matching $2.6 billion from provincial governments.

FCM also wants a “comprehensive plan” to end homelessness. Tierney said municipalities wind up assuming responsibility for escalating homelessness issues.