Regina City Council votes to cut REAL budget to $11.2 million

Despite Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) submitting a lowered budget request on Monday, Regina City Council voted to further cut its funding for the 2025 budget on Tuesday.

In a 9-2 decision, council voted to reduce the allocation for the struggling municipal corporation from its original ask of $12.7 million to $11.5 million as proposed by REAL on Monday and then again to around $11.2 million.

Read more:

• City administration to bring back options on what to do with REAL
• Absorbing or dissolving REAL on the table at Regina City Council

Councillors Mark Burton (Ward 4) and George Tsiklis (Ward 2) voted against the decision.

Numerous councillors acknowledged the financial difficulties faced by REAL and recognized that it would take some time for the organization to find stability.

However, those councillors also mentioned how difficult it would be for voters to bear the brunt of an increased mill rate amid rising affordability concerns.

REAL’s acting CEO Roberta Engel said the move would come with risks as REAL might face unforeseen financial problems within the next year, but it will nonetheless try its hardest to achieve the additional reduction.

Ward 8 Coun. Jason Mancinelli said he couldn’t afford to give REAL as much of a buffer as he’d like due to the financial hardship experienced by residents in his ward.

“Having been on council for a while, I have your back. I want REAL to succeed,” he said.

“Should something happen later in the year, I will attend whatever I need to make sure things are solvent and proper but right now, in the economic times my residents are experiencing, I can’t give you that much of a buffer at the cost of their savings accounts.”

Engel said she was optimistic about REAL’s outlook going forward.

It was Ward 7 Councillor Shobna Radons who motioned for the additional $300,000 reduction on Tuesday.

“The community has a huge concern about REAL and understanding that we do need to make an adjustment and this does affect our mill rate,” Radons said.

“I’ve had a lot of folks reach out, as everyone here has, about REAL and talking about affordability… People in our community are struggling, these times are difficult.”

Accessibility plan funding accepted for 2025

Council voted to advance funding for the Regina Accessibility Plan that was intended for 2026 to be approved for 2025.

The motion was brought by Ward 5. Coun. Sarah Turnbull, who recommended that $211,500 be diverted from Tourism Regina ($52,000) and the baseball audit ($159,000).

The motion passed 10-1, with only Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo voting against it.

Capital projects commitment increased

In a move that wasn’t related to this year’s budget, Coun. Jason Mancinelli successfully motioned to increase the commitment for multiple capital projects from $35,031,000 to $39,931,000.

Some of the programs included are:

• Expressway lighting renewal
• SIRP road plan
• Residential road renewal plan
• New and enhanced traffic control
• Traffic infrastructure renewal and
• Vision Zero

“Although this is in the 2025 budget book, these commitments are for the 2026 budget year, so it doesn’t affect the budget in front of us as we’re speaking of it today, it’s for the multi-year budgeting and it’s just a correction for a couple of errors,” Mancinelli said.

Mancinelli explained that the early approval was done to get more favourable rates from potential contractors.

It passed 9-2, with councillors Dan Rashovich (Ward 1) and Tsiklis voting against it.

The entire week is scheduled for budget deliberations, although it’s possible for discussions to wrap up before then.

Read more:

• City administration to bring back options on what to do with REAL
• Absorbing or dissolving REAL on the table at Regina City Council