We knew that taxes were going to increase this year and Monday night we caught a glimpse of how much.  

Finance Director Brian Acker presented the preliminary Operating Budget for 2016 and it included a proposed 4% property tax increase. 1.75% for new initiatives and the pre-approved 2.25% for cast iron watermain replacement.

"Once you take into account the revenues and expenditures, we have revenues of $43,889,000 and we have expenditures of $44,860,000 and that leaves us with a shortfall of about $971,000." Acker explained to councillors.

Wage increases for staff through collective bargaining continues to be one of the major pressures on the budget but so is the drop in commodity prices.  The city has a surcharge on all natural gas consumption and makes money off that Crown utility.  With rates dropping so much this year, the city has lost revenue as a result.

And without saying that they expect revenue sharing to be frozen or clawed back, Acker isn't planning any increase in funding from the province this year, also impacting the bottom line of the budget.

"That's despite a 2.4% increase in the provincial sales tax for the 2014-15 period, which is what our one percent that we get allocated is based on." said Acker. "We're being very conservative in that regard by maintaining it at the 2015 level and it does give us a little wiggle room should anything happen."

But it wasn't all bad news. One area that saw significant changes was the Fire Department budget. After some very controversial changes made last year, the restructuring appears to have developed into major cost savings.

"This year you're seeing a request of about $6.55 million, so it's actually a reduction of about $537,000 so our expenditures in our fire service area have actually declined significantly due to a number of initiatives that our management in that area have carried forward."

But it should also be noted that the Firefighters Association has filed two grievances and an unfair labour practice suit against the city directly stemming from the re-organization, part of which saw dispatch services moved to Prince Albert.

Councillors are set to sit down for a two day budget meeting in mid February to go over most of the details in the budget and to potentially find any costs savings. Right now, with an average home in Moose Jaw worth about $207,000, if this tax increase is approved, that would mean an extra $49 a year on your tax bill.