You might be hearing conversations in the community about the new central library and how much it will cost taxpayers. As with any project of this magnitude, we appreciate there is a high expectation of transparency, something we have been and remain committed to. We firmly believe the new central library is an investment that will benefit the community for generations to come.<\/p>\n
The funding plan (saving) for this project began in 2009, providing an affordable path to a new central library, even in these challenging times. The library is an independent taxing authority, as reflected in the Library Levy, separate from the City of Saskatoon municipal property taxes.<\/p>\n Since 2009 there have been scheduled incremental increases to the library levy to save money in a capital reserve for the project. In that time, $32 million has been saved for the new central library, accounting for 24% of the full project needs. Future scheduled increases to the levy are $645,000 in the years 2021-2024; and $200,000 in 2025 and 2026. This schedule fully funds the new central library project, including debt repayment and increases to operating costs once the library is open, which means there are no additional increases related to the new central library capital project beyond 2026.<\/p>\n Based on the capital reserve contribution schedule (funded by the library levy), the average homeowner (with an assessed home of $371,000) will see the following increases related to this project:<\/p>\n 2021: $4.66 or $0.39\/month<\/p>\n 2022: $4.84 or $0.40\/month<\/p>\n 2023: $4.91 or $0.41\/month<\/p>\n 2024: $4.91 or $0.41\/month<\/p>\n 2025: $1.58 or $0.13\/month<\/p>\n 2026: $1.57 or $0.13\/month<\/p>\n In 2019 the total library levy for the same homeowner was $192.59. In 2020, the library levy increase was 3.75%, which translated to a $7.22 increase for a total of $199.81. Of the 2020 increase, $4.93 was for the increase to the new central library reserve.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Budget<\/strong><\/p>\n The project budget is $134 million. The total project budget crosses multiple budget years, $132.7 million in 2019 and $1.3 million in prior years.<\/p>\n The budget includes all project costs:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Funding Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nFunding Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
\n Land<\/td>\n $\u00a0 \u00a09,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Professional Services & Consultants<\/td>\n $\u00a0 \u00a012,600,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Construction & Site Preparation<\/td>\n $\u00a0 \u00a073,300,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Furniture & Equipment<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 9,600,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Permits, Fees & Other<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 1,300,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Public Art & Public Engagement<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 1,300,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Insurance<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Escalation Allowance (Inflation)<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 3,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tax<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 7,000,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Contingency<\/td>\n $\u00a0\u00a0 16,400,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n