REGINA — The City of Regina has chosen eight options to find the $1.55 million in savings for the 2025 budget.
city administration laid out 13 options for council to choose from.
"We looked at this carefully to ensure that they would be feasible, acceptable, and doable," said acting city manager Jim Nicol.
Of those 13 options, A, B, C, E, F, G, J, and partially K were chosen from the list.
The options were recommended by David Froh (Ward 3), with George Tsiklis (Ward 2), Froh, Mark Burton (Ward 4), Victoria Flores (Ward 6), Clark Bezo (Ward 10), and Mayor Chad Bachynski voting in favour of the cuts.
Numerous councillors, including Sarah Turnbull (Ward 5) and Froh, voiced their displeasure with the procedures.
Mayor Chad Bachynski called it a learning lesson, mentioning potential tweaks to the process going forward.
What each option means
For the first expenditure options, the city found $700,000 in savings between carbon tax savings for utilities and utility cost savings for natural gas.
After Prime Minister Mark Carney removed the consumer carbon tax, Regina found savings from the cut tax after their 2025 budget was passed.
As for the utility cost savings for natural gas, the city identified that consumption of natural gas has been trending downward. Meaning the natural gas budget could be reduced by $100,000.
The next option is deferring $100,000 of $200,000 from workplace improvements. These improvements include employee engagement and culture. With the reduction, select workspaces will be chosen for the program in 2025.
Also being deferred was $100,000 of $500,000 from city facility upgrades. The upgrades align with the city's goal of being 100 per cent renewable by 2050. Instead, the city will defer certain upgrades until 2026.
The last deferral was $26,000 from phase 2 of the cybersecurity audit. "This work is focused on the City's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which supports critical City infrastructure," per the report.
Meanwhile, for reductions, $500,000 from the $6.2 million the Transit Fleet Reserve would have received in 2025.
The reserve helps the city fund the purchase of new buses, including the 20 electric buses purchased by Regina for 2025 and 2026.
Bachynski said the implications of the cuts mean the city will have to make up additional funding into the reserve down the line.
Custodial services for city hall, fire halls, and transit facilities will also see reductions on days when they have fewer occupants. This will save the city $80,000.
Lastly, the city identified $44,000 in savings from reducing mosquito control service, as wet and cold weather has led to fewer mosquitoes roaming around Regina.
