Regina stadium tax moving up another notch in 2016
CBC News | Posted: December 8, 2015 5:17 PM | Last Updated: December 8, 2015
Additional 0.45% increase part of overall property tax hike council approved Monday
The amount of money Regina taxpayers contribute to the new football stadium is going up again.
Starting in 2013, a special levy was added to help pay for the $278 million stadium, the future home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and that amount goes up every year.
It was a 0.45 per cent hike in the first year, followed by an additional 0.45 per cent in the second year, continuing for another eight years to 2022.
For a homeowner who paid $2,000 in city property taxes in 2012, for example, the total stadium tax would have been about $9 in 2013, and would be $40 in 2016 and about $110 in 2022. After that, the tax stops escalating.
Deputy city manager Brent Sjoberg updated council about the stadium at the special budget meeting on Monday where a 3.3 per cent tax increase was approved — including this year's 0.45 per cent stadium-related hike.
"We laid out a long-term financial plan for 30 years," Sjoberg told council. "Basically that [stadium tax] funds the repayment, including both the capital cost portions and, over time, supports the operating cost as well."
The 33,000-seat stadium in Evraz Place west of the downtown is about 70 per cent built and will be ready in time for the 2017 football season, officials say.