Dauphin city councillors had a chance to look over the unaudited financial statements for 2022, recently.
When all was said an done, city operations ended last year with a $3,600.31 deficit in the General Fund and a $41,736.49 surplus in the Utility Fund.
On the revenue side of the General Fund, an unbudgeted provincial grant for road repairs eased some of the burden of a harsh winter. At the same time expenses received some help from both policing and fire department expenses coming in under budget. Other highlights included Economic
Development and Tourism coming in under budget because of project delays and sidewalks finishing under budget.
Contributing to the deficit was the fact that taxes added on new construction was less than budgetted, while airport funding was more than expected, CN Station repairs were more than thought, Public Works administration was over budget, more was spent in the roads and streets budget, snow and ice removal was over budget, equipment costs were greater than planned and flooding in Vermillion Park negatively affected Recreation costs.
When all added up, mayor David Bosiak said things could have been considerably worse if not for the hard work of senior administration.
“Looking over the numbers and the difficulty of last year from a financial standpoint in regards to the end of the pandemic or the start of the end of the pandemic, the supply chain issues and, obviously the inflation, I’d actually like to commend city staff and our Director of Finance for having us just slip in to a very, very minor budget deficit of just over $3,000,” Bosiak said. “Which, on a budget of our size, I’d like to say that was tremendous work done considering what we’re hearing in the news from Winnipeg and other major centers and the scale of their deficit. I know that in discussions with senior administration just after the election in October they indicated how the pencils got sharpened and everybody was very aware of the situation that we were in. So to come in at a very modest deficit I’d again like to commend staff.”
The Utility Fund was buoyed by the fact that the service of supply was under budget, as were water purification and treatment expenses. Sewage collection costs also came in under budget as some sewermain flushing work was not completed.
The size of the surplus was mitigated, however, from water and sewer revenue coming in less than budgetted, transmission and distribution costs being over budget and infrastructure capital costs being greater than expected.
The Utility Fund surplus was transferred to the Sewer and Water Reserve Fund. An analysis of the City’s reserve funds was also part of the financial report.
Balances as of Dec. 31, 2022, were provided as follows:
• General Reserve - $5,352,514.16;
• Machinery Reserve - $1,096,065.10;
• Fire Reserve - $749,768.48;
• Public Land Reserve - $765.27;
• Civic Building Reserve - $505,715.53;
• Water and Sewer Reserve - $922,086.29;
• Federal Gas Tax Reserve - $2,034,345.85;
• Recreation Facilities Reserve - $319,292.08;
• Snow and Ice Removal Reserve - $128,895.85;
• Environmental Stewardship Reserve - $401,500.65; and
• Watson arts Centre Reserve - $42,686.19.
The reserve funds total balance is $11,553,635.45.
The financial report also included a snapshot of 2022 capital projects, as well as council compensation and expenses which totalled $120,844.19
With the 2022 books all but closed, Bosiak said council will focus on finalizing the 2023 financial plan.
“Indications are that supply chain issues aren’t over and, even though inflation is going down slowly, that does not leave us immune to those impacts for 2023,” he said. “So our new council will have to probably buckle up their chin straps and figure out how we finish up the final nickels and dimes of the 2023 budget, which for the majority of us will be our first kick at the can in that process. So I’m looking forward to that, sort of.”
