By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
To facilitate additional borrowing for the Martensville Recreation Centre (MRC) and the upcoming water/wastewater project, as well as to cover whatever the city may need to contribute towards a new regional high school and RCMP detachment, the City of Martensville is aiming to increase its borrowing limit by $30 million.
During their November 4 meeting, City of Martensville councillors unanimously voted to authorize administration to apply to the Saskatchewan Municipal Board (SMB) to increase its debt limit from the current amount of $40 million to $70 million.
Leah Bloomquist, Director of Corporate Services at the City of Martensville, noted she had mentioned to council about a year ago that she would be speaking to them again about the debt limit.
“As we are approaching probably some … borrowing in early 2026, the time to bring forward this topic is now,” she said.
Pursuant to Section 133 of the Cities Act, a resolution by council is needed in order for the city to apply to the SMB, which oversees the establishment of municipal debt limits through their Local Governing Committee (LGC).
The application package will include that council resolution, the city’s most recent audited financial statements and most recently-approved budget, and their five-year capital plan.
A city’s debt limit is typically based on source revenues from the previous year, though Martensville’s $40 million limit was based on borrowing needs for past capital projects like the Martensville Athletic Pavilion’s (MAP) construction.
Bloomquist noted that by the end of 2025, the city’s projected debt exposure will be $34,883,900, which represents about 87% of its debt limit.
That does not leave enough room for the $5 million that the city will have to borrow in order to complete work on the MRC and the $15 million needed for the $21.5 million water/wastewater project, which will greatly increase the city’s water capacity.
Furthermore, Bloomquist indicated the requested debt limit increase also takes into account what it will cost the city in terms of land acquisition for a regional high school and a regional RCMP detachment, both of which are listed in the five-year capital plan.
Bloomquist acknowledged those costs have not been firmly determined, but they’ve factored estimates into their application to show how they might affect the city’s borrowing in the future.
As of now, the city estimates the land acquisition for the school could cost $2 million, while the regional RCMP detachment may cost $8 million.
She noted the city applied to the SMB to raise its debt limit in 2017, but the application was denied because construction start dates were not yet known for the MRC or the water/wastewater project and the city was using only 48% of its debt limit at the time.
However, if this current debt limit increase is approved, Bloomquist stressed raising the limit doesn’t commit the city to spending any money on the school or RCMP detachment.
“If those projects do not move forward, or if we are able to find alternative funding options for those, we would not request borrowing at a later date,” she said.