On November 26th, 2008 a record $241.7 million capital budget for the City of Saskatoon was announced. This huge budget will start paying for mega-projects such as the continuation of Circle Drives south bridge and the new police station but it also has to go towards the regular maintenance and repairs of streets and bridges. Will this help the backlog of non-flashy work like fixing water lines and repaving streets? Probably not. The city of Saskatoon projects a backlog of $195 Million worth of projects in the next 5 years. Senior government funding usually goes towards new projects with the opportunity for ribbon-cutting photo ops and signs and the non-designated federal and provincial funding goes towards the less flashy work.
The 2009 capital budget includes $103 million to develop land in new neighbourhoods like Evergreen, Rosewoodand Blairmore. The preliminary work on Circle Drive South is $10.14 million and $5 million to design the new police station and acquire land.
Last years capital budget was $218.4 million.
Hopefully this new budget will aid with some of the infrastructure deficiencies we have seen in our growing population. With Saskatoon real estate as busy as it has been and the influx of people moving to Saskatoon, infrastructure is extremely important.
Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Conexus Realty Ltd.