From the Star Phoenix’s City Hall Notebook
There has been a lot of discussion since the weekend storm comparing Saskatoon to other cities in Canada. I used 2006 census data (of municipalities, not greater metro areas) and the long-term snowfall data from Environment Canada and compared it to the most recent snowbudgets for some major Canadian cities.
It really is a question of priority. Most of the cities with higher snow and ice budgets per capita clear residential streets (even sidewalks) and get significantly more snow, which sustains that industry better and lures in more private contractors.
The more interesting comparison, of course, is property taxes and how much extra ratepayers in Saskatoon would have to pay to get to the service level of Winnipeg where residential streets and sidewalks are cleared. Winnipeg, per capita, spends a little less than double what Saskatoon does to get that level of service. So, here, it would cost an extra $5-million per year, say, to reach that service level. That equates, roughly, to a 4.5 per cent increase on the tax bill.
Update: Because people are asking: I tried to find kilometres of roadway in each city but it was difficult to attain and to verify if the numbers are accurate.
For curiosity’s sake, Winnipeg maintains 7,200 lane kilometres of roadway compared to 3,500 in Saskatoon, according to the cities. Winnipeg budgeted $4,305 per kilometre on snow clearing in 2009 compared to $1,571 in Saskatoon. So, we’d need to almost triple the snow clearing budget to reach that level of service, you could argue.
My first thought is that I would like to break down how much of that was spent clearing sidewalks. Since 1984 we have been cleaning my walk and it hasn’t killed me or even bothered me that much. Oddly enough we have had city sidewalk clearing machines come down the street but only once or twice since I moved to Saskatoon. What I really want is safer streets without the ruts. The city had talked about just blading the snow down and leaving it on the boulevards and lawns which I am okay with but to drive in Mayfair which had crisscross ruts at every intersection. Eliminating that would go a long way in making Saskatoon taxpayers a lot happier with the service we are getting.
