The City of Saskatoon has announced a $9.9 million surplus in the civic operating budget.

The City attributes the boom in the preliminary year-end financial results to higher Transit revenues and lower than anticipated spending for snow clearing. The almost $10 million surplus also comes on the heels of a 6.04 per cent property tax increase that was tabulated in December.

Clae Hack, Chief Financial Officer says they are recommending the surplus be used to boost the City’s stabilization reserves which are used to deal with unforeseen circumstances like higher-than-normal amounts of snow and fuel price volatility. Administration would like the surplus to be split with $5.7 million going to Snow and Ice Management Contingency Reserve and the remaining $4.2 million going to the Fiscal Stabilization reserve.

Hack also suggests that adopting a strict discretionary spending and hiring restrictions last year contributed to the surplus. The increase in revenue from transit came from the increase in population. Hack says 14-thouand people moved to Saskatoon last year helped contribute to significant increases in Transit and Access Transit revenues which, in turn, supported a quicker return to pre-pandemic ridership.

In addition, the City Utilities, funded by Utility charges including Saskatoon Light & Power, Storm Water, Saskatoon Water/Wastewater and Waste Services also came away with a surplus of $10.96 million in 2023. Reasons cited for the surplus include a longer and warmer than normal summer which resulted in higher electricity and water usage. The City says this money is typically used to help pay for infrastructure maintenance and expansion.