The Saskatoon Chamber was pleased to see City Council take a significant step toward a more principled and growth-oriented approach to municipal taxation, following today’s unanimous support for a motion to explore a comprehensive tax policy framework.
 
We extend our thanks to Councillor Donauer for bringing forward the motion and for specifically referencing the Chamber’s recent letter, which emphasized the need for a tax strategy grounded in fairness, predictability, affordability, and business attraction. As noted in our submission to Council, working towards Saskatoon’s historical benchmark tax ratio has served the city well, helping to grow our economy, attract investment, and ease the tax burden across all property classes.
 
“The rationale behind the benchmark ratio has always been sound,” the letter states. “By keeping the commercial-to-residential tax ratio in check, we attract new businesses and support existing ones,” ultimately broadening the tax base and strengthening the local economy.
 
Our letter also outlined a number of practical ideas for consideration, including:

• Tax caps to ensure predictability;
• Phased-in tax shifts to manage reassessment impacts;
• A small business tax subclass to provide targeted relief;
• Transparent levy structures to ensure fairness; and
• A ‘range of fairness’ for tax ratios modeled after successful approaches in other jurisdictions.

 
We look forward to working collaboratively with City Administration and Council to help enshrine these principles into policy.