City of Regina calls for major property tax increase in 2025 budget

The City of Regina is proposing major increases to property and utility rates in its next municipal budget in order to maintain service levels and fund new capital projects.  

On Tuesday city officials unveiled their proposed 2025 budget, which calls for an 8.5 per cent increase to the mill rate and a 5.8 per cent increase to the utility rate.

That mill rate increase is nearly three times the 2.2 per cent increase passed in the 2024 budget, and would be the largest increase in over 10 years. 

According to the city, the new rates would translate to an additional $27 per month or $320 per year in taxes for the average Regina homeowner.

"There's many external factors that are influencing the proposed mill rate this year, namely unprecedented rates of inflation and uncertainty in the global economy," said Regina City Manager Nikki Anderson, whose office drafted the budget. 

"For many years our city has been playing catch-up with mill rate increases historically kept below what is necessary to meet the growing commands of our community."

According to the City, Regina's population grew by 3.6 per cent in 2024 and is likely to rise by an additional 2.2 per cent in 2025, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the country. The city is anticipating that it will grow to 302,000 by 2027, and 350,000 by 2050. 

No new asks

Due to the timing of the 2024 municipal election, a large portion of the city's capital budget was pre-approved in December 2024, when Regina City Council approved $229 million in capital spending in order to fund projects into the new year. The city's proposed capital budget for 2025, which includes that amount, is $380 million. 

"Our approach was to put forward a budget that had no new asks other than anything the previous council had basically said had to be in the 2025 budget," said Anderson. 

Among the largest of the city's investments for 2025 are replacing vehicles in the city's transit system, the 11th Avenue Revitalization project and renewing underground water infrastructure. 

"It's new infrastructure," said Daren Anderson, the city's chief financial officer. "And when I say new, I mean replacing the existing. So making sure that we have some updated underground infrastructure that we're making sure remains viable for the long term, as well as we're investing in the new water treatment facility itself."

"Growth will pay for itself. So new residents and new hookups will generate more revenue obviously through volume. But increases to the mill rate essentially are reflecting us renewing the infrastructures to make sure that we're ready for the city as it grows and continues to grow."

In total, the city's operating budget will grow by just over 11 per cent to $841 million, matched by an equivalent increase in revenues. According to the Saskatchewan Cities Act, cities cannot operate unbalanced budgets.

Alongside maintaining service levels, the city touted several expanded initiatives in the new budget including a new fire station in east Regina, continued construction of a new aquatics facility in Taylor Fields and expanded city park space. 

Regina City Council will begin debating the proposed budget on March 17.