REGINA - All eyes for Regina’s city council are now geared towards the 2025 Budget.
has raised concerns among many residents with the increased mill rates.
City administration is looking at increasing the property tax by 8.5 per cent between its partners, civic operations, and dedicated mill rates.
City partners are asking for around $13 million more in the 2025 budget.
These includes:
- Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL) requested a 2.21 per cent increase of $6.85 million more in 2025
- Regina Police Service asked for a 2.25 percent mill rate increase, which is roughly $6.9 million more for 2025
- Economic Development Regina (EDR) proposed a 0.13 per cent mill rate increase, which adds up to approximately $400,000 more this year.
Each partner has addressed key areas of need for the budget increase.
REAL is expecting to see a $4.2 million financial loss in 2025, which will be covered by part of the increase to help fund repairs, utilities and more.
For the RPS, the increased budget will enhance their efforts for community safety.
Meanwhile, EDR plans to focus on putting their money towards investment attraction and talent attraction.
The next part of the proposed tax increase is civic operations, which include water, road, transit, environmental services, etc.
City administration is asking for a 1.90 per cent mill rate increase. These will help fund large projects, including investing $14.4 million in the residential road renewal program, $21.1 million in the 11 Avenue Revitalization, which could be a decade-long project, and $16.1 million in the city’s water infrastructure.
The state of Regina’s infrastructure has been a large concern for city administration, as substantial amounts of water main breaks continue to happen, while around have been found to be in poor condition, according to the 2024 road renewal program update.
This is largely due to mill rate increases not meeting the costs of civic operations.
"While inflation, salaries, and the expansion of civic services grew at a high rate, the mill rate increase has remained consistently low,"
The final part of the property tax increase is dedicated mill rates. These include:
- The Indoor Aquatic Facility (IAF), 0.5 per cent dedicated mill rate
- Intensification Infrastructure and the Industrial Development Charge Reduction, 0.17 per cent dedicated mill rate
- Water Network Expansion Project, 1.34 per cent dedicated mill rate
In total, these all add up to an 8.50 per cent property tax hike, which would cost the average homeowner $17/month, and $204/year.
Utility rate
A 5.82 per cent utility rate increase has been outlined by city administration. Four per cent of that increase will go towards maintaining and enhancing water service.
The city is looking to invest around $21 million in wastewater collection and water treatment, $20.9 million in water supply & distribution, and $4.3 million in drainage collection and flood protection.
The other 1.82 per cent will go towards funding the Intensification Infrastructure and the Industrial Development Charge Reduction.
In 2024, city council agreed to have a 3 per cent increase in the utility mill rate.
The proposed increase would see the average homeowner pay $10/month and $116/year.
Adding the two mill rates together, an average property owner could see a $27/month and $320/year increase.
Mayor’s outlook
During his campaign, Mayor Chad Bachynski promised to increase efficiency, infrastructure investment and overall fiscal responsibility while bringing in the opinions and concerns of people across Regina.
With the budget looming, Bachynski was asked on Wednesday about his outlook.
"[A] majority of us are new, so we have pretty open expectations. We've talked a little bit proactively about some [of those] processes and how we'll kind of navigate the different steps in the budget."
Many residents are expected to attend the budget week, voicing their opinions to city council.
Bachynski sees it as an opportunity to listen. "[We need] to make sure that our decisions are aligned with expectations, but also making sure we consider all the information [from experts]."
Budget week begins on Monday, with the RPS presenting first.
