MARTENSVILLE — Homeowners in Martensville will see a slight increase to their property taxes and utilities in 2025, though the impact could have been greater were it not for the removal of a few planning items from the city’s capital budget.
After reviewing and deliberating over the 2025 operating and capital budgets for the past couple of months, City of Martensville councillors held a special meeting on February 25 to review the final versions of both documents.
Citing a desire to bring down a proposed property tax increase, councillors then passed a motion at their March 4 meeting to approve the amended budgets.
“We believe this budget reflects our commitment to opening the Martensville Recreation Centre, maintaining service levels, supporting key projects and ensuring financial sustainability for our community,” said Mayor Kent Muench.
“I commend this council for its valuable input during these budget deliberations and thank our administration for their dedicated work in preparing this budget.”
According to the operating budget, the city will take in nearly $25 million in revenue, including a total of $14.4 million from property taxes and grants-in-lieu. That includes $96,500 in revenue from new assessment alone as a result of the city’s continued growth.
Overall, this represents a 3.97% increase in total property tax revenue from the previous year. A release from the City of Martensville suggests that taxes are going up due to the addition of new services, including the recent opening of the Martensville Recreation Centre, and to accommodate an investment in new staffing requests costing a total of $224,800.
As noted in the release, the average homeowner in Martensville with a total assessed value of $337,200 will see an increase in their municipal property taxes of about $7.64 per month, or $91.71 per year.
However, it should be noted that the city’s operating budget originally called for a 4.7% increase in property tax revenue. Under that model, a homeowner with an assessed value of $337,200 would have seen their property taxes go up by $8.99 per month, or $107.89 per year.
At the February 25 meeting, councillors indicated they wished to eliminate or delay three items from the budget in order to lower that increase: strategic planning worth about $20,000; design updates for the Kinsmen Park master plan, which would have cost about $50,000; and a facilities assessment that would have cost an additional $100,000.
Ultimately, council decided at the March 4 meeting to cut the strategic planning and updates to the Kinsmen Park master plan, bringing that proposed increase in property tax revenue from 4.7% to 3.97%.
Residents of Martensville will also see their garbage and recycling rates increase by $10 per year and their consumption rate for water usage go up by 4.6%. The former is tied to contract service cost increases, while an increase in rates from SaskWater and City of Saskatoon are tied to the latter.
As indicated in the budget report, water rate increases will need to be approved again separately in the city’s Utility Rates Bylaw, which will be brought forward in the near future now that the budget is approved.
This 4.6% increase in water rates roughly translates to an increase of $4.26 per month for the average household based on a monthly consumption of 19 cubic metres.
In terms of expenses, the city has budgeted for roughly $19.8 million in expenditures, a $2.9 million increase from the previous year. Much of this is tied to an additional $1.7 million in recreation and community services spending, though the budget report notes that a higher amount than usual has also been budgeted for snow removal.
After deducting expenses from revenue, this leaves the city with a $5.156 million surplus, which will be directed to items like debt repayments and capital purchases.
The 2025 capital budget is just over $12 million, which includes just over $7.3 million in new projects and $4.7 million in carryover projects from 2024.
The new projects include $4.6 million in water and wastewater upgrades through the New Build Canada Fund; $1 million in roadway repairs and rehabilitation; $447,000 in civic facility condition assessments and upgrades; $375,000 on a new pool liner at the Martensville Aquatic Centre; $287,000 in upgrades for the water pump house and sewer lift stations throughout the city; and a $150,000 investment in a city-wide drainage master plan.
At the March 4 meeting, Councillor Brad Blixt asked if there was room to make changes to the budget in response to external factors like the U.S. tariffs driving up costs.
City manager Tanya Garost said there is “absolutely room to pivot” and re-evaluate some projects if they become unaffordable, adding they will definitely think twice if anything comes in “exceedingly” over budget.
A full release and budget report can be viewed on the city’s website at www.martensville/ca/pages/budgets_finances.html.
