Regina to hike property taxes 0.5% a year for 5 years to fund recreation projects

Regina residents will be paying more in property taxes after city council approved a mill rate increase to fund a Recreation Infrastructure Program. 

The increase is 0.5 per cent per year for five years, beginning in 2020. Mayor Michael Fougere estimates it will raise $1.25 million in the first year.

The city did something similar to fund their residential road renewal project. Fougere said they also did it in the mid-aughts in order to buy accessible buses. 

"In terms of high profile, this is very high profile. [It's] significant but I think people are going to want to see that," he said.

So what will the money be used for?

"Certainly it will help us with the two pools. We are going to fund that," Fougere said. "The Lawson Aquatic Centre is our number one issue. We wanted to have that done so [the money] will feed into that one as well."

The city released its Recreation Master Plan in January of this year. The motion suggests that after the pools and Lawson are done, other projects put forward should adhere to the plan and work to fulfil its goals. 

After the five years is up, the money will continue to go into the fund. Should the city decide to move the funding to another endeavour, Fougere said he wants to be transparent about where this tax money is going.