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Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark calls an unexpected cut to a provincial grant program “hugely devastating” and he intends to lobby Premier Brad Wall to reconsider it.

The provincial budget eliminated $36 million in grants in lieu of property taxes from Crown corporations SaskPower and SaskEnergy, which will mean $11.4 million less per year for Saskatoon, Clark said.

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“We had no idea this was coming and it’s a huge financial impact,” Clark said in a phone interview from Regina Monday. “It’s unprecedented for the city to take a one-time hit like this.”

Clark said the amount of money is comparable to what it costs to run recreation centres in the city or the city’s snow removal budget.

It would require a 5.7 per cent property tax increase to raise that sum, which is about equivalent to a 25 per cent reduction in revenue sharing from the province, Clark added.

Clark said he’s unsure when the elimination of the grant will take effect and what the impact on this year’s budget will be. He wants to meet with Wall and pointed out that during talks leading up to the budget, the grants were never mentioned.