Regina Minute: Issue 123

Regina Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Regina politics

📅 This Week In Regina: 📅

• No City Council or committee meetings are scheduled this week. The only item on the City's meeting calendar is a Board of Revision hearing on Wednesday at 10:30 am, where a panel will hear appeals of the 2026 property assessments for three commercial properties. Council and Committee business resumes with the Regina Planning Commission on August 18th at 4:00 pm, the Executive Committee on August 19th at 9:00 am, and City Council on August 25th at 1:00 pm.
  
  
• Meanwhile, Regina taxpayers got their first look at the City's 2027 budget outlook after Administration released a report showing the City would need a mill rate increase of at least 7% just to deliver the same services as this year. Operating costs are expected to rise by $44.7 million next year, offset by only $17.7 million in new revenue. Council has committed to keeping Regina's property taxes in the lowest 25% of comparable Canadian cities, which City staff say means holding the increase to 5.81% to match Saskatoon, requiring at least $4.5 million in cuts. Administration's early suggestions include scrapping a planned $3-million transfer into the reserve that pays for new buses, reducing dust suppression contracts by $219,000, painting road lines less often to save $195,000, and delaying an outdoor washroom strategy for parks by a year. Council was set to discuss the report at its first pre-budget meeting last Tuesday, but technical problems with the livestream pushed the discussion to August 25th. Three more pre-budget meetings will follow on September 8th, September 22nd, and October 6th, with final budget decisions not expected until December.
  
  
• City Council voted unanimously on July 29th to give the Globe Theatre a $1.38-million emergency grant, after the theatre told councillors it risked shutting down operations without the money. The downtown theatre's renovation, completed in 2025, ended up costing about $50 million, leaving the organization $16.3 million in debt after cost overruns. Executive Director Oz Weaver called the grant a one-time "final investment" and said the theatre is seeking $12 million from the federal government while lining up about $2.9 million in gifts, donations, and sponsorships. The money will come from the City's General Fund Reserve, which sits at $21.3 million, well below its recommended minimum balance of $35.8 million. Several councillors called on the provincial government to contribute, but the province says it already put $9 million into the renovation and that cost overruns are the recipient's responsibility under the funding agreement. Mayor Chad Bachynski described the grant as a tough decision given the City's low reserves, but said keeping the theatre operating downtown was important enough to say yes.
  
  
• Mayor Bachynski is responding to mounting complaints about overgrown parks and weedy medians, after cuts made in the 2026 budget left some City green spaces unmaintained. Council cut about 17 parks maintenance positions, mostly summer students, to save roughly $240,000 as part of reducing this year's mill rate increase to 10.9%. The City says it has received 4,616 calls and emails about issues such as long grass and weeds so far this year, nearly 1,000 more than the 3,635 received by the same point last year. Ward 3 Councillor David Froh says the cut saved the average homeowner between 10 and 50 cents a month while leaving parts of the city looking unsightly, and Administration told councillors that hiring and training replacement staff would likely take until mid-August. In a video posted to social media, the Mayor said residents have made it clear that "beautification matters" and that the City will address the service levels in upcoming budget discussions.
  
  
• Finally, City Council voted unanimously on July 29th to approve YWCA Regina as the new owner and operator of Orange Buffalo Lodge, a 30-unit affordable housing project at 5th Avenue and Angus Street in North Central. The City stepped in after cost overruns stalled construction under the original operator, the North Central Family Centre, and spent $3 million through the Housing Accelerator Fund to get the building finished. Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of August, with the YWCA taking ownership on September 1st and aiming to accept rental applications by October. The YWCA plans a mix of supportive housing and Indigenous-led family programming, with 17 units set aside for Indigenous people, 10 for young adults, and 3 for seniors, while 15 units will be prioritized for women and their children. As a condition of federal and provincial housing funding, the YWCA must operate the lodge for 20 years. Council also rezoned the lot next to Horse Dance Lodge, the City's other rapid housing project on Broad Street, to allow a possible expansion by its operator, Silver Sage Housing.

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