Winnipeg comes within a whisker of a balanced budget for 2023

The City of Winnipeg came within a whisker of balancing its budget at the end of 2023 after previously forecasting a more significantdeficit.

The city posted a $297,000 deficit on its $1.3-billion operating budget for 2023, city controller John Speidel writes in the final financial status report for the previous year.

A deficit of that size works out to abudget variance of .02 percentage points, or one fiftieth of a cent on every dollar.

The city had expected a budget deficit of $7.1 million for 2023. It is common for the budget to move toward balance or a surplus for any given year once the final numbers are tallied.

The city achieved a nearly balanced budget mainly due to higher interest rates on investments, debt deferral to future yearsand lower police-pensioncontributions, Speidel says in the report. This almost offset high fire-paramedic overtime bills, a shortage of permit revenue in the property department and over-budget spending on snow-clearing and street cleaning in the public works department, he noted.

Speideil says the $297,000 deficit will be covered by a transfer from the city's financial stabilization reserve, unofficially known as the city's "rainy-day fund." The city sets aside thismoneyoff financial disasters such as the severe revenue shortfalls the city experienced during the first three years of the pandemic.

After the $297,000 transfer is made to take care of the 2023 deficit, only $15.7 million remains in the fiscal stabilization reserve. That's a far cry from its target of six per cent of city spending for a given year, which works out to $78 million.

City finance officials plan to brief council this week on a plan to replenish the reserve over several years.

Coun. Jeff Browaty(North Kildonan), city council's finance chair, says the city expects to devote proceeds from the settlement of a lawsuit over Winnipeg's police headquarters to bolster the fiscal stabilization reserve.

Those proceeds range from $21.5 million, if the money is paid by March 23, 2024, to $28 million if the money is paid after March 23, 2026.