Saskatoon Minute: Financial Audit, Escooter Approval, and Broadway Bridge Closure

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

This Week In Saskatoon:

• The Governance and Priorities Committee will meet on Tuesday at 9:30 am. The Committee will discuss the results of the 2024 Civic Services Survey before going in-camera to discuss appointments to Boards, Commissions and Committees.
  
  
• The Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday at 11:30 am. The agenda will begin with some housekeeping items, including the election of a Chair and Vice-Chair. The City Archivist will provide an update on the Archives move, the acquisition of the Star Phoenix Collection, and the City Archives Official Opening and Archives Week Event.
  
  
• On Thursday, at 1:00 pm, the Board of Police Commissioners will meet. The agenda includes the 2025/2026 Canadian Association of Police Governance Membership Renewal, the Saskatoon Police Service 2025 Business Plan, and an update on the Truth, Reconciliation and Treaty Implementation Project, among other things. Finally, the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee will meet on Friday at 11:30 am. The Committee will have an orientation, and then take care of some housekeeping items.

Last Week In Saskatoon:

• It was announced that Saskatoon’s Broadway Bridge will close for maintenance and repairs from April to October, impacting commuters and local businesses. Repairs will address issues like leaking expansion joints and deteriorating railings, while additional roadwork will reconfigure nearby intersections. The full closure, including walkways, will disrupt traffic and reduce foot traffic in the Broadway area, causing business owners some worry about decreased summer activity. Business owners recalled similar disruptions during a 2016 Broadway Avenue closure, which negatively affected sales. The City plans to coordinate the bridge repairs with bus rapid transit station construction to minimize overall disruption.
  
  
• Saskatoon’s Transportation Committee has voted to recommend permanently allowing shared e-scooters in the city, pending a final decision by City Council. The decision follows a two-year pilot project involving up to 500 e-scooters from two vendors. Safety remains a concern, with 53 emergency room visits and four vehicle collisions, including one fatality, reported last season. Public complaints included improper helmet use, sidewalk riding, and abandoned scooters.
  
  
• The Finance Committee reviewed a financial audit highlighting challenges and opportunities in the City's budgeting process. The audit found that 59% of operating expenditures from 2019 to 2023 were concentrated in transportation, policing, corporate governance and finance. The per capita operating budget has declined over the past three years either through reduced services or deferred programs and services. The report also highlights budgeting process challenges, such as excessive manual processes and spreadsheet use. Six recommendations were provided to the city - creating a plan for snow removal reserves, exploring new revenue sources, using automated financial tools, improving efficiency by reducing service duplication, adopting a priority-based budgeting approach, and continuing with a driver-based planning model.