MOOSE JAW — City council has approved the 2025 budget and landed on a municipal tax hike of 5.17 per cent, which will add more than $160 to most residents’ bills this year.
During a special budget meeting on Jan. 27, council voted unanimously to approve the 2025 operating budget and the 2025-29 capital and equipment reserve budget as amended, while it authorized city administration to tender and award the capital and equipment purchases set out for this year in those reserve budget schedules.
From the pocket, most taxpayers — the “average single family residential property” — will likely shell out an extra $13.97 per month or $167.60 for the year based on this budget. This mill rate increase is expected to generate an extra $2,003,253 for the city’s operating and capital budgets.
The money from the mill rate increase will cover the original opening budget shortfall of $1,114,853 and budget changes of $888,400.
One percentage point of taxation this year is $387,402.30.
The mill rate’s monthly and yearly increases are broken down as follows:
- Municipal tax hike of 3.66 per cent: $5.67 / $68.02
- Moose Jaw Police Service tax hike of 1.51 per cent: $2.34 / $28.06
- Recycling fee: 10 cents / $1.20
- Garbage fee: 31 cents / $3.72
- Water utility increase of four per cent: $3.09 / $37.08
- Wastewater utility increase of four per cent: $2.46 / $29.52
Furthermore, council authorized administration to tender the Crescent View Headworks venue wastewater project this year and start construction in 2026, while it also approved the 2025, 2026 and 2027 operating requests for this initiative.
Moreover, council approved the use of $1.4 million in traffic safety reserve money to fund $400,000 in roadways projects and $1 million in traffic control measure initiatives.
Meanwhile, council voted to increase the waterworks utility rate by four per cent and the sanitary sewer utility rate by four per cent.
Also, council approved the continuation of an annual waterworks infrastructure levy of $100 per taxable property for all property classes, except for multi-unit classes, which will have a levy of $100 on each dwelling unit within that multi-unit building.
The monthly cost to most taxpayers from this levy is roughly $8.33.
Lasty, council approved the continuation of an annual parks and recreation infrastructure levy of $65 per taxable property for all classes, except for multi-unit classes, which will have a levy of $65 on each dwelling unit within that multi-unit building.
This levy is expected to generate $1,092,905 in additional revenue to support venue upgrades; the monthly cost to most taxpayers is roughly $5.41.
Combining the increases for the mill rate, police service, recycling, garbage, water and wastewater leads to a monthly increase of $13.97 or an annual increase of $167.60.
If the two levies are also included — they are not new but are re-occurring taxes — then most taxpayers will be paying roughly $27.71 per month and $332.60 annually.
The Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com will have more comments from city council about the approved 2025 budget in the coming days.
