City Paying Tens Of Thousands To Planning Department Consultant
By Robert Thomas
Outside consultants hired to right the City’s stumbling Planning Department have already cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars and according to a confidential City Hall source set to cost a lot more.
In documents obtained by MJ Independent the City of Moose Jaw has already paid out $31,501.05 to White City based Professional Building Inspectors Inc (PBI) for the period April - June 2026.
In June 2026 PBI received $15,535.80 from the City. In May 2026 PBI received $14,201.255 for May 2026 and $1,764 for April 2026.
It’s all paid out as part of a 36 month consultancy contract the City signed with PBI to provide services signed on August 5, 2025.
Page One of the 16 page contract
Page Two of the 16 page contract
The contract was signed by Mayor James Murdock and former City Clerk Tracy Witke on behalf of the City of Moose Jaw.
Asked previously for a comment about the events transpiring at the Planning Department Mayor James Murdock’s office initially asked for additional time to comment but there was none forthcoming.
The terms of the contract sees PBI receiving $1.50 for every $1,000 in value up to $5,000,000 for plan review.
Over $5,000,000 for every $1,000 in value PBI will receive $1.25 for plan review.
(See contract extract below).
Contract extract of what PBI is being reimbursed
For plan review and inspections PBI will receive $4.00 per $1,000 in value up to $5,000,000. For projects with values over $5,000,000 PBI would receive $3.50 per $1,000 in value of the project.
As an example how much the City could potentially pay out the proposed Hilton Brunswick Hotel on River Street West has a $28,900,000 building permit value. If PBI were to provide plan review and inspection services they would potentially earn $101,150 for the work.
The Planning Department has been in turmoil with developers and home builders complaining their approved plans were wrongly reviewed, files have gone missing, files over the past two and a half years that were previously closed were re-opened due to errors, work said unnecessary was later said necessary and needed to be done plus other developers have claimed they cannot receive their permits in a timely manner.
It has allegedly left developers wondering what to do with their projects.
One business - Uncle Weiner’s - publicly stated on Facebook they were abandoning their Moose Jaw expansion plans due to the lengthy time to get permits and then another requirement popping up.
Recently Colliers has been hired as part of the City’s plans to rewrite the department.
Under provincial legislation the City is responsible for ensuring projects comply with building construction standards while the property owner is responsible for ensuring the work is done.