REGINA - The average homeowner who has a home valued at $315,000 in Regina could have to pay nearly $350 more for this upcoming year with the proposed mill rate increases city administration has outlined in their 2025 budget.
On Wednesday, the executive committee had a chance to discuss the budget for the first time, which normally is finalized in the winter.
Outlined in the budget is an 8.5 per cent mill rate increase, which includes service partners with the City of Regina, including the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL), Economic Development Regina (EDR), the Regina Police Service (RPS), the Provincial Capital Commission (PCC) and the Community & Social Impact Regina (CSIR).
It’s worth noting that Regina city council voted in favour of dissolving CSIR, and the remaining assets will be assumed by the city.
As for EDR, they proposed a $405,000 increase in their budget, which would be 24 per cent larger than last year and a 0.13 per cent mill rate increase. In total, EDR is seeking 2.1 million from the city in 2025. Part of that investment is using $240,000 to attract new talent to the city.
Chris Lane, CEO of EDR, mentioned during his delegation that Regina has a large amount of mid to high-level jobs vacant. If those jobs were to be filled, it would boost the economy by half a billion dollars.
Regina’s other service partners, like RPS are seeking a 2.25 per cent mill rate increase, which would give them nearly $7 million more in 2025, while REAL could be looking at a 2.21 per cent mill rate increase, based on an estimation.
A precise number for REAL has not been decided yet, as the group hasn’t presented their 2025 budget to Regina city council yet. That will happen later in Feb.
The only partner who isn’t increasing their mill rate is the PCC, who are asking for over $2.7 million from the city. Between the four partners, the total mill rate increase could be 4.59 per cent.
As for the other part of the 8.5 per cent increase, 2.01 per cent of that comes from the dedicated mill rate the city has for three projects. The Intensification Infrastructure and the Industrial Development Charge Reduction, the Water Network Expansion Project and the Indoor Aquatics Facility [IAF].
There are also the civic operations, which would be a 1.90 per cent mill rate increase. These costs go towards the city's water, waste, roads, transportation and environmental services.
In their report, the city mentions the civic mill rate has been lower compared to the actual costs incurred to deliver services over the past few years due to inflation, salaries and expansion of services. Putting together all these increases, the average homeowner will face a $17 increase per month due to the proposed 8.5 per cent mill rate increase.
Utility increases
The second part of the 2025 budget is the utility increases, which are recommended to be 5.82 per cent, shaping out to an additional $10/month.
City administration is recommending a 4 per cent mill rate increase to enhance and maintain service levels. Daren Anderson, CFO with the City of Regina, brought up that they tried to keep the mill rates down in past years and were partially successful because interest rates went up, which covered a gap. Another part that covered the gap for the city was finding efficiency.
However, as Anderson pointed out, the city is realizing "it has a marginal effect that is starting to run out." Anderson gave an example of paying workers overtime or relying on third parties to fix a water main break.
This led to the city paying more for third-party contracts and paying workers for overtime. Anderson said this mill rate increase "is starting to reflect that stress [that we’re facing]."
The other 1.82 per cent comes from the dedicated utility increase to fund Intensification Infrastructure and Industrial Development Charge Reduction.
During the executive committee, councillors voiced concerns that they heard from residents that they were struggling to pay their monthly utility bills as is.
Ward 6 coun. Victoria Flores pointed out that some residents can bear the increase while others cannot.
Flores asked city administration if there was any way to support those in need because of these increases.
City workers mentioned the current Water & Waste Rebate Program that Regina offers households with low income, which could receive up to $40 of enhanced rebate per month.
RPL seeking funding
The final part of the 2025 Budget is the Regina Public Library (RPL) requesting a total 10.08 mill rate increase to cover two separate items. The first is the 2025 operational costs, which the RPL is requesting to increase the mill rate by 4.58 per cent.
As mentioned on Tuesday by Curtis Smith, executive director of the RPL, another around 2 per cent mill rate increase for their operational costs" just doesn’t do it [in terms of funding costs]." He added, "3 per cent [will] barely let you keep the lights on. We've had inflation [in] the last few years. So I think what we're asking for is really, [you know], what we need."
The other increase, which would be a 5.5 per cent dedicated mill rate over five years, would be used by the RPL to pay back the upwards of $119 million in debt funding they would use between 2026 and 2029 to fund constructing a new central branch.
In total, the average homeowner would pay approximately $21 more in 2025 with these additional add-ons.
Councillors voiced their worries about the costs, particularly for the new central library branch.
Ward 4 coun. Mark Burton said, "We’re in a tight situation right now. People are really feeling it." Burton questioned the delegates representing the RPL regarding increased costs to residents for a new library. "Tell me a bit more about why we need to do this right now at this price. [if you could expand on the reasoning]."
Cindy Kobayashi, a member of the RPL board of directors, said the RPL has put forward several iterations of a new central library beforehand. RPL decided to figure out why those iterations didn’t go anywhere and look at every possible scenario, which included the current state of the central library. Through a process, the RPL decided to move forward in building a new central library.
Burton also brought up why building a new space seemed to be the only option the RPL was looking at. Kobayashi referred back to the extensive research the RPL did during their process. The RPL found building a new space would cost as much as expanding and renovating their current location to better serve the community.
Even with all the rising costs and concerns, the executive committee passed each motion regarding the budget. This doesn’t mean each mill rate is finalized, as the city will look over the budget completely in March.
Deputy Mayor Shanon Zachidniak, during her media scrum, noted the city couldn't have a 0 per cent mill rate increase. However, she feels "we need to have a more measured increase. I heard that sentiment echoed among my council colleagues today. The good thing about having this information [regarding the budget is] now we have the opportunity for the next several weeks to try and assess where there may be the opportunity to realize some savings [and] some other [ways] to lower the mill rate because as I stated, nobody wants to pay increased taxes."
Zachidniak also stressed residents want this new council to be cost-effective, as the previous council had too many priorities.
