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If council had left the ratio at 1.75, businesses would have been hit with an average property tax increase of nearly 17 per cent, while residents would have seen an average decrease of one per cent.

Under the adjusted ratio approved Monday, average business property tax will increase nearly 10 per cent in 2017, while for residential properties it will increase by slightly less than two per cent on average.

That still represents a drop from the 4.2 per cent increase residential property owners were expecting with the combined municipal and library increase for 2017.

Overall, residents now will pay 69.2 per cent of the property tax collected by the city, while businesses will pay 30.8 per cent. Under the old ratio, residents would have paid 67.8 per cent and businesses 32.8 per cent.

“I actually think this is a very generous compromise,” Coun. Ann Iwanchuk said.

Coun. Cynthia Block said she’s concerned the shift will confuse residents.

Between 2001 to 2010, the City of Saskatoon lowered the business-to-resident ratio from 2.41 to 1.75. A 2013 city report said this shift resulted in residential taxpayers paying about $4.7 million more a year.

Supporters of the tax shift, including the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and the North Saskatoon Business Association, argue that a more competitive tax regime will attract investment and lower taxes for everyone.

Coun. Mairin Loewen, who voted alone Monday against the tax shift, said there is not a lot of evidence to connect business investment to tax policy. Coun. Darren Hill also said he’s “skeptical” that lower property taxes alone attracted businesses during the resource boom of the last decade.