Pandemic and property taxes put financial hardship onto Saskatoon curling clubs

Curling clubs in Saskatoon were already struggling financially prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now they're in an even more dire situation. 

According to Granite Curling Club general manager Steve Turner, the club has only been able to operate for two of the past 16 months. 

"Let's just say if we had another year like we had this past year with COVID, I don't know how many curling clubs would be left standing in the city," Turner said in an interview with CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning. 

He said it's crucial that the clubs are able to open for the coming season, which starts in October. 

On top of the pandemic, clubs faced "massive" property tax increases this year, Turner said. He estimated that one club's taxes increased by 66 per cent. At Granite Curling Club, the payment jumped from $3,000 per month to $4,200.

"Where we differ from the majority of curling clubs across the country is that we own our building and we own our own land. So we are taxed as a commercial business, but we are a not-for-profit organization," said Turner. 

Granite Curling Club and the other three local clubs — Nutana, Sutherland, and CN — sat down with the city in early 2021 to exploring solutions. 

"What if the city bought the land or bought the building, that sort of thing," said Turner.

The city's review and options for how to proceed went to council in June, with the idea of creating a recreation grant program. 

New sporting and recreation grant

In late June, Saskatoon city council gave the green light to a sport and recreation grant program that could potentially help struggling recreational facilities, including curling clubs. 

"Committee and council could have chosen any option detailed in the report, or could have directed Administration in any other way that was deemed appropriate," city administration said in an email to CBC. 

"Ultimately, council's unanimous decision was to develop a recreation and sport grant program similar to the culture grant program that provides annual operating funding to recreation and sport organizations through a combination of grants dollars and/or tax abatements." 

The city is currently developing the grant program and will report back to the appropriate committee in time for the 2022-2023 Multi-Year Business Plan and budget deliberations in late November. 

It's still unclear how much money the grant will supply, as well as which and how many organizations will be able to access it.

Turner said that the grant could definitely help struggling clubs, but it depends how much money they'll have access to. He also said that the report passed without additional input from the clubs. 

Curling will be on people's minds in November for another reason. Saskatoon is set to host the Olympic curling trials at SaskTel Centre. It's something that's both exciting and frustrating for Turner. 

"What curling is able to bring in in terms of revenue to the city, everybody loves that side of it," said Turner.

"But when it comes to where we've said, 'hey, let's see if we can find a workable solution so we can keep functioning and keep curling in the city,' we seem to fall on deaf ears."

LISTEN | Steve Turner spoke with host Leisha Grebinski on Saskatoon Morning