Administration has proposed the 2024 Budget with a 2.20 per cent mill rate increase. For the average assessed home valued at $315,000, this will mean an increase of $4.30 per month ($51.60 annually) in 2024.
Investment in the City’s five strategic priorities - Community Safety & Well-being, Economic Prosperity, Environmental Sustainability, Vibrant Community and Operation Excellence remains a priority.
The proposed budget included $579 million in general operating funds to support more than 60 services provided by the City. The five-year general capital plan includes $137 million in 2024, with an overall planned investment of $882 million between 2024 and 2028.
The 2024 Utility Rate increase was approved at 4.0%. This includes a total utility operating funding of $176 million. The five-year utility capital plan includes $106 million in 2024, with an oveall planned investment of $637 million between 2024 and 2028.
Building the Budget
The following video provides an overview of how City Administration and Council build the annual budget.
Video Transcript
Audio |
Visual |
Narrator: Did you know the City of Regina is responsible for providing many of the services we use every day? |
City scene. Vehicles, pedestrians, and bikes animate across the scene. |
More than 60, in fact, |
City scene fades to background. Text reading “60+ Services” appears. |
Including water in our taps, the roads we drive on, snow removal, garbage and recycling collection, and police and fire services that help keep our community safe. |
Icons representing water, roads, snow removal, garbage, recycling, police services and fire services appear. |
So when it comes to making budget decisions, how the City invests your tax dollars is important for everyone. |
Previous icons merge together and transform into a coin. |
Your property taxes make up about half of every dollar the City spends. |
The first portion of a pie chart animates in, rotating in from the top. |
Other revenue comes from government grants, program fees and charges, and reserve funds. |
The remaining sections of a pie chart rotate in. |
So how does the City make sure that your money is being put to good use? |
An animated hand drops a coin into another animated hand. |
We start with identifying costs to operate services for the coming year and deciding where to make investments in the community. |
Animated coins begin to pile up. Text reading “Average Budget: $500 Million” appears. |
Day-to-day services like park maintenance, street cleaning, and recreation programs make up the operating budget. |
Icons for park maintenance, street cleaning and recreation programs animate in. |
While the capital budget consists of road repairs, facility upgrades and renovations, and other major projects. |
Icons for road repairs, facility renovations and major construction projects animate in. |
Services like police and fire protection, facilities and recreation, roads, garbage and recycling collection account for a large portion of the overall operating and capital budget each year. |
Icons and percentages for police services (25%), recreation facilities (22%), roads (15%) and garbage collection (6%) animate in, as well as text indicating ‘Other Services’ (32%). |
Budget planning also includes considering things like cost of living, growth, the increasing cost of providing services, and the condition of our infrastructure. |
A bar graph animates in. There is a dollar sign featured prominently over the graph. Two people appear around the graph. |
With population growth comes increased cost to deliver services and the need to invest in new and existing infrastructure to meet demand. |
People around the graph begin to multiply, and the graph continues to trend upwards. |
With all this in mind, the City focuses on several priorities when proposing its budget to City Council. |
Icons for water, roads, snow removal, garbage, recycling, police services and fire services animate in. |
We look for ways to keep services affordable and to reduce overall costs. |
A pile of coins animate in. The pile grows smaller until only a few coins remain. |
This is achieved through innovation – finding new and more efficient ways of providing services. |
Five lightbulbs drop into frame. There are gears within each lightbulb, which begin to turn. The lightbulbs flash as the gears stop turning. |
We plan ahead for future repairs and expenses, and allocate portions of today’s property tax dollars to help fund the cost of rebuilding infrastructure in the future. |
A stick figure drops on top of the centre lightbulb, holding a telescope. We zoom in as the figure uses the telescope to look ahead. The figure puts away the telescope and pulls out a chart, where it marks something down using a pencil. |
We consult citizens to make sure your priorities are being met. |
People animate into frame. Speech bubbles animate in around them. Arrows come out of the speech bubbles, flowing to the right. |
Your feedback and involvement helps tell us what is needed now and what is most important to you for the future. |
Animate in a group of stick figures putting together a large puzzle. A crane hook is dropping the last piece into place. |
The best communities are built by working together. |
City scene fades back in. People, cars and bikes animate across. |