MOOSE JAW — Taxpayers owed nearly $5 million in total tax arrears at the end of the first quarter, which was nearly 30-per-cent more than Q1 2024, while fewer people participated in payment plans.
City administration presented the first-quarter financial report during the May 12 regular city council meeting, which included data about tax arrears, outstanding debt and how much each property class owed.
Council voted unanimously to receive and file the report.
Property tax arrears
As of March 31, taxpayers owed $4,945,206 in total arrears, which included $3,854,753 in property tax liens and $1,090,453 in arrears payment plans, the report said.
Conversely, by March 31, 2024, those numbers were, respectively, $3,821,445, $1,802,608 and $2,018,837.
Therefore, the total outstanding amount of tax arrears increased by $1,123,761 — a jump of 29.4 per cent — from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025. This comprised a year-over-year increase in liens of $2,052,145 and a decrease in payment plans of $928,384.
Meanwhile, by March 31, 2023, taxpayers owed $2,998,855 in total arrears, including $1,838,213 in property tax liens and $1,160,642 in payment plans.
“Unfortunately … tax arrears continue to grow. We’ve really taken an effort to look at how we can double down on our enforcement efforts,” Brian Acker, finance director, said.
while in the coming months, it will provide lists of properties from 2023 and 2024 that it also wants to pursue, he continued.
Most property owners are willing to join a payment plan, while the city will take only one or two properties after this process is completed, the finance director said.
City hall must apply to the Saskatchewan Mediation Board (SMB) if it wants to take a property, which prompts the board to discuss the issue with the person, Acker explained. The SMB’s focus is encouraging property owners to join payment plans instead of allowing a municipality to take the property.
“It makes it very real for the taxpayer, that if we don’t follow through with this process, the (SMB) will be very clear that … you could lose your property,” he remarked.
City hall welcomes property owners participating in payment plans, but the repayment schedule must “be reasonable,” Acker added. It’s similar to a credit card that may take 26 years to pay off with minimum amounts, except the city won’t “entertain payment plans of that nature.”
Property taxes receivable
Property taxes receivable consists of tax arrears and taxes owing. Tax arrears are overdue taxes, while current taxes are due but have not fallen into arrears. Taxes fall into arrears in the next year following the levy of taxes.
The total outstanding property taxes receivable by March 31 was $4,945,206, which was comprised of all outstanding arrears.
In comparison, total property taxes receivable that were outstanding by the end of Q1 2024 were $3,821,445, followed by $2,998,855 in 2023, $2,859,803 in 2022 and $3,788,665 in 2021.
Arrears by property class
At the end of 2024, the four main property classes owed $1,504,370.10 in outstanding arrears, followed by $1,178,536.06 in 2023 and $1,171,846.25 in 2022, the report said. This means those classes owed $3,854,752.41 during the last three years, while including payment plans of $1,090,453.30 increased the total to $4,945,205.71.
The taxes missed in 2024, 2023 and 2022 were:
- Commercial and industrial: $548,457.09 / $439,477.59 / $244,209.84
- Multi-unit residential: $124,799.01 / $104,136.60 / $61,692.68
- Single-unit residential: $831,114 / $634,921.87 / $865,943.73
Compared to commercial/industrial, residential comprised roughly 49 per cent of outstanding arrears by property class, the report said.
Borrowing/debt
As of March 31, 2025, city hall was still repaying on five projects after borrowing money to finance them.
The principal outstanding amount on each project was:
- Waterworks capital long-term loan: $19,104,000
- High-service pumphouse: $6,651,000
- Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation (BPWTC) loan term loan (Bank of Montreal): $9,272,640
- Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation loan term loan (TD Bank): $13,672,285.12
- Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Corporation loan term loan (Royal Bank of Canada): $14,090,444.09
These projects totalled $62,790,369.21, a decrease of $11,278,178.17 from the end of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the City of Moose Jaw’s debt limit is $95 million.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, May 26.
