SaskatoonGeorge Ward Pool is staying afloat, and hopping on the bus will cost more, but city council continues to look for savings or revenue in its next two-year spending plan.City council’s progress on reducing property tax hikes slows on Day 3 of negotiationsPhil Tank · CBC News · Posted: Nov 27, 2025 1:47 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Coun. Troy Daves talks with reporters during a break in Saskatoon budget talks on Thursday. (Phil Tank/CBC)George Ward Pool is staying afloat. And hopping on the bus will cost more.The 60-year-old outdoor pool in Saskatoon’s Holliston neighbourhood survived budget talks Thursday as city council looked for savings or revenue in its next two-year spending plan.No councillor even asked for a vote on closing the pool, one of 108 cost-saving measures presented to council to help reduce the property tax increases.Unlike Wednesday, when council started going through the list and all but seven of the first 46 options passed in some form, all but about half a dozen measures were rejected on Thursday.Some never even advanced to a vote.“A lot of these [options] are very unpalatable,” city manager Jeff Jorgenson acknowledged to council. “We appreciate how difficult these conversations are for everybody involved.”Council failed to complete the budget Thursday, the last of three scheduled days, even though the meeting was extended to 6:30 p.m. and beyond. So talks will resume Friday morning, marking the second consecutive two-year budget debate that has bled into four days.However, bus fares, which have not increased in more than a decade, will go up in each of the next two years. An adult monthly pass jumps to $91 from $83 next year, and then to $100 in 2027.Single-trip tickets rise to $2.75 next year from $2.50 and then to $3 in 2027.“I don’t want to wait another 10 years to have a fare review,” Coun. Bev Dubois said. She got council support to review how often the city looks at bus fares, which are the lowest in the country for cities of Saskatoon’s size with similar public transit.Low-income bus passes stay the same, but monthly passes for seniors increase to $30 next year and $32 in 2027 from $29 currently. Monthly passes for high school students increase to $62 next year and $65 in 2027 from $59.Coun. Robert Pearce failed to get sufficient support to also freeze fares for seniors and high schoolers. Elementary school students ride for free.Earlier on Thursday, council declined to vote on several other money-saving measures related to the city’s four outdoor pools, including reducing the season by a month, cutting hours and increasing admission fees. Council also passed on reducing the hours at city paddling pools.Non-residents, however, will pay more to register for swimming programs at city-operated facilities in Saskatoon.Even though George Ward Pool is not scheduled to close, a city report says the pool needs to be replaced in five years, with no dedicated money or plan in place.Rising rink ratesThose who prefer frozen water failed to escape the budget scrutiny. Rates and rentals at indoor rinks operated by the city will rise.Fees at golf courses will also go up, and people who license their pets in the city will pay more.Since council punted most options to lower the tax increases, less progress was made Thursday on reducing the two-year jumps than on Wednesday. The property tax increases shrank Thursday to 6.17 per cent and 5.39 per cent, respectively, for next year and 2027. Those increases would mean a single-family home assessed at $394,000 would pay $146.69 more next year and $136.12 more in 2027.A series of proposals to reduce access to city-run recreation facilities all failed, as did potential cuts to a series of grants to community groups and sports organizations.But council did support cutting a $108,200 grant over two years to the Saskatchewan Health Authority to help run a detox centre on Avenue O in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.City officials could not immediately explain the history of the grant or even where the detox centre was located. Councillors spoke about the need for clarity on the line between provincial and city jurisdiction.Coun. Troy Davies explained some of the grant’s history, which dates back to the 1990s, harkening back to his previous career as a paramedic. He said there were fewer options for addiction treatment at the time the city grant began.“I think it was a good investment at the time, but time to move on,” Davies said.’Super icky’ proposalCouncil also rejected a proposal to start enforcing a bylaw that requires people to pay $150 if they need help from firefighters after they’ve fallen.Coun. Zach Jeffries called the prospect “super icky.” But fire officials said some people abuse the service by not following medical advice. Dubois said private, for-profit care homes also use the service for clients. The fire department responded to 1,728 calls for so-called lift assists last year, and have already attended 1,723 this year.Council asked for a report on the service, and on talking to the Saskatchewan Health Authority about sharing the cost. But Davies lamented that talks with the SHA on the issue have been happening for at least a decade.Council also approved hiking water rates by 5.18 per cent next year and 5.14 per cent in 2027.And a proposal to fund a pilot project with Indigenous peacekeepers received one-time funding of $300,000 for next year in spending that will not directly affect the operating budget.
George Ward Pool survives budget talks, but Saskatoon bus fares on the rise
