Pricier leisure cards, a 4.5% tax hike and other highlights from the 2019 Saskatoon budget

Look, I could bore you with the usual budget stuff.

Like how the City of Saskatoon thinks it will need $511 million to run its services in 2019 — $21 million more than 2018.

Or how the city wants to spend another $260 million on capital projects.

This is all important stuff. But what you want to know is how this is going to affect your pocketbook and your life experience, right?

With that in mind, here's a far-from-comprehensive list of five notable takeaways from the proposed 2019 budget, which was released to the public this morning.

Important note: None of this is final. City councillors will have the pleasure of rifling through a 568-page budget binder before debating individual items and approving the whole shebang in late November.

1. Property taxes are going up

As they have for the last four years. This year's increase is 4.5 per cent.

For someone who owns a home worth $371,000, it means their annual tax bill will be $81 more than the one they paid in 2018.

2. A new "Indigenous relations manager" at Remai Modern Art Museum

It's one of three new positions the museum wants to add to its staff roster in 2019. The request comes after an inaugural year in which the museum took some heat for showcasing the work of a man whose Indigenous heritage was in question.   

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It also comes months after a public report in which the former chair of the museum's board said the requirement for board members to live in Saskatoon was hurting the museum's efforts at appointing Indigenous candidates to the 12-person board. 

3. A higher premium on fun

The city wants to raise the cost of its monthly leisure cards for adults, youths and families. For a flat fee, the cards offer unlimited access to the city's seven leisure centres, four outdoor pools and the Cosmo Skating Rink.

Here's how the changes would break down:

4. Sid Buckwold Bridge repairs

Saskatoon just got two new bridges. Now one of its older bridges may get some love.

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The city wants to spend $13.5 million on upgrades to the Sid Buckwold Bridge, which was built in 1965. It's one of the bigger-ticket construction projects proposed in the 2019 budget.

Upgrades would include:

• Replacing the asphalt surface, the traffic and pedestrian rails and part of the concrete deck.
• Increasing the concrete cover over the rebar on the deck.
• Replacing the expansion joints.
• Widening the lone pedestrian walkway to 2.1 metres from 1.8 metres. The new Traffic Bridge has a comparatively wide three-metre clearance.

It's not clear if the bridge will need to be closed during the repairs. CBC Saskatoon will ask the city during a planned information session Wednesday morning.  

If nothing is done there could be a structural failure, meaning a full replacement could be needed by 2027, according to the city.

It's expected an outside contractor will do the repairs.

5. No increase to parking ticket fees

But the city is flagging that "stagnant" revenue from this area is contributing to a projected $1.45-million deficit.

The city raised parking fines to $30 from $20 in 2017 to offset losses spurred by the provincial budget that year.