REGINA - City administration has outlined potential cuts to items as part of a motion passed during 2025 budget deliberations to find 1.55 million in savings.
, the city has identified eight areas where savings can be found, including cancelling Light the Lights, reducing downtown public washroom operations, cutting city facility upgrades and more.
A full graph of the cuts showcases how much will be saved:
Several city councillors had concerns about areas of cuts.
Ward 5 Coun. Sarah Turnbull said she would be looking at ensuring cuts aren't made to downtown washrooms.
"I do believe washrooms are an important part of our public space downtown and [also] our vibrancy. No one wants to go into an unkept washroom."
Ward 7 Coun. Shobna Radons took issue with cuts to the dust suppression service, hoping fewer reductions could be made.
The city noted that cutting the service increases the risk of air quality, visibility issues and resident concerns.
Ward 1 Coun. Dan Rashovich made a point about his multiple amendments during city council budget deliberations, looking at finding ways to save costs, including deferring $450,000 in the 2025 budget for bike lanes.
"I don’t see many people riding bikes right now."
It’s worth noting the city looked into cutting staff. However, chief financial officer Daren Anderson mentioned that cutting salaries for long-time staff halfway into the year wouldn’t save the city much money because of the severance they’d have to pay.
Instead, the city looked into ongoing operations that had "controllable costs to figure out."
With many uncertain about cutting services, Ward 3 Coun. David Froh will introduce a reconsideration motion at next week’s city council meeting.
The motion would look at other options for cuts to send back to city administration.
Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores called this "a learning lesson," noting that city council can make better judgement next time after directing city administration to find savings themselves.
Mayor Chad Bachynski echoed Flores’ words, saying most of city council is still learning from this process.
Bachynski said he would personally not want to see the Light the Lights cancelled, which sees dozens of people gather around city hall to see the area light up in time for Christmas.
City council will further discuss the plan for budget cuts on May 7th.
