2022/2023 Multi-Year Business Plan & Budget: Special Meeting Friday, October 15

A Special Budget Review Meeting will be held tomorrow, Friday, October 15, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. The City’s Standing Policy Committee on Finance will consider four information reports.

At the Standing Policy Committee on Finance last Special Meeting on August 31, 2021, when considering the 2022 and 2023 Indicative Budget, it resolved that the Administration provide additional reports on:

1. Strategic Options to Reduce Expenditures 2022/2023 - information on strategic options to reduce expenditures for 2022 and 2023 to bring expenditures more in line with current revenue increases. This report provides service level reports that have been previously presented to City Council for consideration on whether there are service levels that could be adjusted to reduce expenditures in 2022 and 2023.
2. User Fee Guidelines and Cost Recovery - information on user fees policies and cost recovery for optimal revenue budget to address this question: is the City of Saskatoon’s user fees and cost recoveries set at an appropriate level to reduce the mill-rate impact of programs and services as much as possible?
3. 2021 Previously Approved Budgetary Items - throughout the year, City Council approved various initiatives that may have budgetary financial implications that extend into 2022 or later years. What is the effect on future budgets from the decisions City Council has made to date in 2021?
4. Comparative Analysis of Recent Budget Adjustments in Selected Canadian Cities - comparative data for 2020, 2021, 2022 for tax increases and/or forecast tax increases in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg with comment on significant initiatives in each municipality to reduce or hold tax increases.

Budget Process Timeline – Next Steps

• October 18, 2021: A list of prioritized Business Plan Options will be presented to the Governance and Priorities Committee (GPC).
• November 2021: The 2022/2023 Multi-Year Business Plan & Budget document will be released. 
• November 29, 30 & December 1, 2021: City Council 2022/2023 Multi-Year Business Plan & Budget Review (deliberations) will take place.

Any decisions made at the October 18 meeting or the November GPC meeting that impact the property tax rate will be forwarded to the Business Plan and Budget Review meeting in November to be debated but will not be reflected in the preliminary 2022/2023 Multi-Year Business Plan & Budget document.

For more information on the City’s multi-year budget process visit saskatoon.ca/budget.