Regina taxpayers face proposed 15.6 per cent hike in city budget

Regina’s city council is looking at a difficult set of numbers ahead of budget talks, chief among them a proposed 15.6 per cent residential property tax hike.

The city’s administration says that maintaining its current service levels in 2026 will require a shortfall of almost $52 million.

In order to balance the books, council is faced with either a tax increase or service cuts, and officials are forecasting a mill rate increase of 15.6 per cent to keep current services running.

For an average home assessed at $324,000, that would translate to a monthly increase of around $33.

City CFO Daren Anderson says these numbers are just a starting point for council’s deliberations on what steps to take.

“I want to clarify, this is not a proposed mill rate increase, nor is it a funding request,” Anderson said at a press conference Thursday.

“The work of council during budget deliberations is to start from this number and decide which projects and services to fund, and to what extent.”

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The budget also includes a proposed increase of 7.82 per cent for utility rates, but council has the option of lowering that rate with specific spending cuts, including eliminating the city’s outdoor rink program.

“When this was before council about six weeks ago, I said that we could do this, particularly the cut to the base, and that the reduction options would be stark,” said acting city manager Jim Nicol.

“And I think, true to our word, they are.”

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Another option would be closing an existing fire station and reducing staff. Nicol said none of these potential decisions are being made lightly.

“I want people out there, and I want staff to fully understand, those are not put up frivolously,” he said.

“Those are put up there in direct response to, ‘What would it take?’ Council will now have to balance those other funding scenarios and decide where its interest is.”

Council’s deliberations begin on Dec. 15.