City of Saskatoon expecting $12.27M surplus from civic operations budget

The City of Saskatoon says it’s expecting a sizable surplus in its civic operations budget.

Saskatoon’s preliminary year-end financial results for 2024 will be presented to the city’s standing committee on finance on Wednesday, and Clae Hack, Saskatoon’s chief financial officer, said the city is looking at a surplus.

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“I am pleased to report that the city’s preliminary 2024 year-end financial results indicate a surplus of $12.27 million, representing a 1.96 per cent favourable variance from our approved civic budget,” Hack said in a statement.

“The city’s investment portfolio performed better than expected and contributed $9.14 million to this surplus, thanks to stronger interest rates and higher bond returns than originally planned in the budget.”

The city noted that transit revenues helped quite a bit, generating a $4.96M surplus. Transit revenues were $2.1M higher than expected, the city noted, due to increased ridership and revenue from university passes. Saskatoon Transit also saved $2.86M in expenditures, “primarily due to fuel and salary savings and vacant positions.”

Administration also found savings of $4.87M, the city noted, with part of the savings coming partly through staff training, travel and vacancies.

Those savings were offset, however, by the $6.48M deficit in the city’s snow and ice management program. The city activated its “Roadways Emergency Snow Response Plan” in March, leading to a $5.5M deficit. The city saw nine more “snow events” in 2024 – well above the five or six anticipated in the budget – causing an additional overage of $980,000.

“Administration recommends that the majority of the 2024 surplus be allocated to the city’s Fiscal Stabilization Reserve, which has been heavily relied upon in recent years,” Hack said.

“We recommend transferring funds to bring the Fiscal Stabilization Reserve to $17.04 million, leaving $6.90 million in the Snow and Ice Management Contingency Reserve. This allocation will help offset future operating budget deficits or other unforeseen challenges that may arise in the coming years.”

Utilities report $10.73M surplus for 2024

The city’s utilities generated a total surplus of $10.73M for 2024, the city reported. Water reported a year-end surplus of $5.8M, wastewater’s surplus added up to $4.1M, waste services ended the year with a surplus of $757,018, and storm water management ended the year with a surplus of $220,129.

Saskatoon Light & Power, however, ended 2024 with a deficit of $145,820.

The city’s complete 2024 annual report is expected to be released this summer.