ADVOCACY
Working for You The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce continues to actively advocate on behalf of its membership. Recent items to highlight include the following: Municipal Budget Task Force
Prior to Saskatoon’s Municipal Multi-Year Business Plan and Budget deliberations, the Chamber’s Advocacy Committee assembled a Municipal Budget Task Force to assess the budget and compare it to the Chamber’s three advocacy pillars. Based on direction from our members, these pillars are competitiveness, efficiency and growth. The Task Force administered a survey duplicated from the Civic Satisfaction & Performance Survey put forward by the City of Saskatoon.
Supporting initiative s to reduce red tape and streamline process business. es for
doing Promoting local growth
through workforce
development, innovat
ion and investment.
Local government and municipal affairs have the most direct tape on the municip impact on local busines al level has a very large impact on local s. Regulatory red Ensuring that the local businesses. business environment for doing business. remains competitive and a top location Our membership has expressed concern in relation to the increas that has become prevale e in nt in the downtown the City. core. Crime also appears crime and the sense of insecurity to be spreading to other parts of
Municipal
rce
sk Fo Budget Ta Report
We thank the City for their work to reduce Building and Develop We are encouraged to see that the City ment Permit wait times. has heard the concern community and has s set a target of 2 to Rising tax rates 5 weeks for the review of the Business building and develop can threaten of typical commercial ment busines permitsitivenes s compet , whichsisand local businesses levels. a 50% improve capacity for growth. stability Theservice of ament concentration of the over region, current raising taxes cityʼs vulnerable populat resourcweaken ion in one given area es We encourage the is a strain on City to continue to find efficiencies in the process. Within Permitting and theg budget we do see licensin an increase in policing as well as strategic by 15 FTE in 2020 goals to continue partner and 5.8 in 2021 stakeholders. The ships with various key Chamber feels that commu nity this increase in policing community partner ships are steps in the as well as the active right direction. Tax increases should We implore the City be closely correlated to explore alternative 3.15% in 2020 and with inflation. The propose options to address 3.52% in 2021 are d tax increase of issue. Our membe the Crime and Safety cited as being calculat rship has express ed concerns around ed by inflation plus the City's practicegrowth. functions that were The Chamberoperatio of insourcing understnal once outsourced. ands that correlat ing tax increas inflation may be difficult es strictly in alignme We encourafor growing city. Howeve nt with find efficiencies geour Council to continue to r, we also believe that efforts and savings more efficien to usingwithin the organizationfind possible and operatio within their and recommns keep the taxcies current ended. current staffing levels without (i.e. adverselyincreas elimina low is ting outsourced projects affectines g the private sector ). By outsourcing more, the City would be able work on other areas where they are unable to transfer risk. This will allow the city to to transfer risk. Commend Council for taking a step in the right direction by renewal fees for Cannab reducing business is retailers from the license year. We encourage original planned $10,000 this now to $85 per regular licensing fees. parity of licensing to be consistent across the board with Currently, a new busines s license for cannabis retailers are $125. is $20,000 while most others
Our survey findings indicated that, according to Chamber members, the City’s priorities should be as follows: 1. Crime and safety 2. Taxes being too high 3. Downtown development. In addition to the survey, a scorecard was prepared with overall scores of a) fair for
competitiveness, b) fair for efficiency, or c) poor for growth. Since the budget is multiyear in nature, a mid-point review will take place. During this mid-point review, the Task Force will once again assess the City of Saskatoon’s performance compared to the Chamber’s three advocacy pillars. Chamber to advocate for policy changes that allow SMEs greater access to capital, more procurement opportunities and additional incentive programs. Over the past year, political and economic instability has plagued our country and our province. The Chamber will continue to support strong fiscal policies that encourage certainty, as well as investment in our province. Efficiency of processes – at all government levels – will continue to be a priority as we enter 2020. Reductions in red tape, along with access to government administration and officials, are crucial for efficient business practices.
Chamber SUMMIT
The second annual Chamber SUMMIT took place on November 7, 2019. The event debuted the Chamber’s advocacy agenda for 2020 to our members. The Chamber continues to promote a competitive local business environment through taxation policies, seeking solutions to interprovincial
trade barriers, supporting trade diversification, and advocating for pipelines as another means to transport goods to market. Seventy percent of Saskatoon’s businesses consist of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, it’s important for the
Going forward, the Chamber will advocate for continued growth through workforce development. A specific focus will be placed on attracting and sustaining a skilled workforce, continuous innovation and encouraging investment. Another priority is working to address crime and safety, particularly in Saskatoon’s downtown core.
BUSINESSVOICE SASKATOON
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020 21
