The proposed 2021 budget has been released by the City of Moose Jaw that includes a 4.05 per cent tax increase. 

The tax increases break down to a 2.87 per cent increase for the operating budget and a 1.18 per cent increase for the police service budget. 

Mayor Fraser Tolmie said reducing the tax increase would be a discussion city council will need to have.

"We did a zero per cent budget last year because we understood the challenges. Those are conversations that we're going to be having as councillors and as a new council," he said.

The proposed budget would see a $35 per year increase in the infrastructure levy to fund the cast iron watermain replacement. 

According to the city, the average household will see a $7.90 per month or $94.80 annual increase of their property tax bill. 

For utilities, there is a proposed six per cent increase for the waterwork utility rate and five per cent increase for the sanitary sewer utility rate. 

The city says the average utility bill will amount to $6.44 per month or $77.28 yearly. 

The full proposed budget can be found here.

This is, however, just a proposed budget. City council have budget deliberations on Dec. 2, 9, and 16 to finalize the budget. The meetings take place at 5:30 p.m. at city hall. 

Last year, city council was able to finalize the budget before Christmas.

"We did that last year where we had the budget completed by the new year. That's one of the things that we do want to do is try to get the budget completed so that we can get projects tendered out," Tolmie said.

The meetings are open to the public, but residents are reminded at COVID-19 restrictions are in place including mandatory masks and seating in council chambers is limited. 

All budget meetings will also be live-streamed on the City of Moose Jaw’s website