Ward 3’s David Kirton says he’s ‘out’ if property taxes used to fund DEED

A second Saskatoon city councillor says he’ll vote against the plan for a proposed downtown event and entertainment district (DEED) if property taxes are part of the funding, even as a contingency plan.

At a Wednesday committee meeting, Clae Hack, the city’s chief financial officer, said the goal for the project is to rely on property taxes “as little as possible.” But, he added, relying on property taxes could be an alternative if funding plans don’t work out as expected.

“The other options are to find alternative funding sources, whether that be property taxes or one-time funding from another area,” Hack explained when asked whether projected income from tax-increment financing (TIF), accommodation fees, and ticket fees would be enough to let the city borrow between $100 million and $330 million to put towards the $500-million project.

“The growth assumptions are a huge variable in terms of what can we actually expect to see once we invest in a downtown event and entertainment district in terms of growth,” added Hack.

While volunteering at a pancake breakfast at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge Thursday morning, Ward 3 councillor David Kirton said it’s got to be funded by everything but property taxes.

“I’m out … If we start to lay that kind of burden on the people of Saskatoon,” Kirton said.

“We’ve got to make sure that there are no property taxes to fund this.”

Kirton, who said council has a lot of “go (or) no-go” decisions to make in relation to the DEED in the near future, echoed the comments of Ward 10’s Zach Jeffries. On Wednesday, Jeffries also said he would not be on board with any potential property tax increase to fund the event district.

Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark, who was also volunteering at the same event as Kirton, said the goal is to find other sources of funding for the project.

Charlie Clark at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge’s charity pancake breakfast. (Lara Fominoff 650/CKOM)

“In order to know exactly what is going to be involved in being able to pay for the facility, or even move ahead with the facility, we need to get a clear understanding of what is the cost and then what funding options do we have that could pay for it that don’t rely on property taxes,” said Clark.

During Wednesday’s meeting, however, Clark said neither he nor administration could say definitively that if the TIF funding is applied, it won’t have an impact on property taxes.

“If we apply TIF, it relies a lot less on property taxes than a direct property tax levy to pay for it,” the mayor added.

Councillor Hilary Gough said the pressure around finding and generating revenue to upgrade SaskTel Centre and TCU Place is urgent.

“I think that this report very clearly spells out to me that we’re better to start as soon as possible to address those capital challenges and the funding flow,” she said.

But Kirton maintained that those options shouldn’t involve property taxes at all.

“I’ve been pretty steadfast right from the beginning. For me, it’s not on the table,” said Kirton.

A render showing Saskatoon’s proposed Downtown Event and Entertainment District. (City of Saskatoon)