The City of Yorkton presented its budget to council, and now it’s before the public. The budget will be brought before council again on the next council meeting, Dec. 16.
The headline of the budget is the tax rate, which will be an increase of 2.9 per cent. That will mean two per cent for operations increases, with the remaining going towards capital projects.
Mayor Bob Maloney said that they while no taxpayer wants to pay more tax, the problem the city faces is that there is an infrastructure gap, and they need to address it.
“It’s real. When you’re looking at 100 year road replacements, that’s not tenable. 300 year sidewalk replacement, that’s not going to work. When you see those gaps as a council, I think it’s incumbent that you do something about it.”
Maloney, for his part, advocated for a larger tax increase to account for the infrastructure gap that the city faces, but was overruled by the rest of council.
The total impact of the tax increase will be approximately a $5.00 increase per month per household, or a total of $160 per month tax bill for the average Yorkton home.
Some of the issues faced by the city involve increased costs that they can’t control. The carbon tax will have an influence on the city’s budget, and the city is not able to access rebates like taxpayers are. They expect the annual amount of carbon tax to be $67,000 in 2020 and rise to $112,000 by 2022, without accounting for fuel costs for the city’s fleet.
The increase in funding comes after record infrastructure projects in 2019. The city spent $22.9 million over the past year, with projects including:
North sanitary storm channel, Highway 9 bridge, Darlington overpass and Landfill bridge, an $11 million project shared between Federal, Provincial and City governments.
Broadway East resurfacing from the CN tracks to Highway 9.
Whitesand Drive and Pheasant Cove drainage improvements.
SGI Access Road rebuilding and resurfacing.
York Road East reconstruction.
Circlebrook water main replacement.
Airport runway resurfacing.
Dracup Ave. pathway pedestrian bridge.
Truck Wash access road on Highway 9.
Other projects included:
Ukrainian Pioneer Park outdoor arena and basketball court.
Deer Park driveway resurfacing.
New number 7 and 8 holes at Deer Park Golf Course.
New Tupper Park playground equipment.
Key infrastructure projects in 2020 will include:
Mayhew Ave. reconstruction from Fietz St. to York Road East, including a roundabout at the Darlington St. intersection.
New City Operations Centre and site remediation work at the current Public Works location at York Road.
Complete Water Meter Replacement for all City customers.
New waterpark dehumidification system.
New pathway from Dracup Ave. to Mayhew Ave.
The full budget will be available at yorkton.ca, the public can review the budget documents and provide feedback.
