Difficulties posed by the pandemic resulted in a surplus in both the General Operating and the Utility Fund in 2021, Dauphin city councillors were told at their regular meeting, Mar. 14.
The General Operating Fund surplus came in at $697,173. while the Utility Fund had a surplus of $143,237, director of finance Scott Carr told councillors.
“Like many other organizations, we faced a labor shortage in 2021. Unfortunately, this resulted in some work not being completed as budgeted and contributed to our 697,000 surplus,” Carr said, adding the Audit and Finance committee authorized the use of $33,198 of the surplus to pay for the overage on snow clearing in the latter months of 2021, rather than draw down the Snow and Ice Reserve.
The remaining balance of $663,975 was transferred to the General Reserve to help reduce future taxation.
Carr added there were other factors influencing the surplus such as revenue coming in $465,312 over budget.
Taxes added revenue was $41,569 more than budgeted, while income from permits was $13,657, while income at the Waste Disposal Site was $42,186 higher than budget. Federal grants also came in $432,530 more than budget, however, provincial grants were $28,567 lower than budget.
Public donations and funding revenue was also lower than expected by $92,500, while insurance and other rebates were $18,083 more than expected.
When it comes to expenditures, reserve transfers were $1,057,256 under budget, while administrative expenses were $101,312 less than expected and legislative expenses were $2,328 under budget due to two councillor vacancies in 2021.
General administration was under by $44,291, while Protective Services was $10,869 under budget and Transportation was $199,747 under budget.
Environmental Health Department came in $62,990 under budget, Public Health and Welfare Services was on budget, Environmental Development, $59,693 under budget, Community Economic Development, $169,557 under budget and Recreation and Cultural Services was $46,796 under budget. Finally, Fiscal Services, $59,020 over budget.
On the Utility side, Carr said the surplus was due to unexpected savings on replacements of water and sewer mains.
“The only area we were over budget was the purchase of oxygen at our water treatment plant as we planned to be using our new oxygen generator in June 2021, but this project was delayed and will be completed in 2022,” he said.
The full surplus was transferred to reserves, Carr added.
Overall, Utility Fund revenue was $349,710 under budget. Water and sewer revenue was $12,044 more than budget, while bulk water sales were $2,047 under budget. Additionally, provincial grants were $332,157 less than budgeted and custom work sales were $21,087 less than expected.
Reserve transfers and debenture proceeds, $342,696 under budget, while utility administration was $13,887 over budget.
Water supply expenditure were $20,602 under budget, while sewage collection costs were $12,052 less than expected and fiscal services were $673,640 under budget.
Following the transfer of the surpluses, the City’s reserve funds finished the year just $25,000 less than their opening.
“This indicates our taxation levels in 2021 were sustainable,” Carr said.
The closing balance of $11,808,549 in total reserve funds is comprised of the following:
• General Reserve - $4,934,089.50;
• Machinery Reserve - $950,712.33;
• Fire Reserve - $655,384.60;
• Public Land Reserve - $743.26;
• Civic Buildings Reserve - 435,548.71;
• Water and Sewer Reserve - $1,830.960.59;
• Federal Gas Tax Reserve - $2,037,196.18;
• Recreation Facility Reserve - $447,482.40;
• Environmental Stewardship Reserve - $349,778.90;
• Snow and Ice Removal Reserve - $125,193.09; and
• Watson Arts Centre Reserve - $41,459.93.
“With inflation nearing five per cent we are already seeing much higher costs in 2022. But with over $11 million in reserves we are hopeful we can reduce the impact of this inflation by using reserves,” Carr said.
“So (2021) was a good year. 2022 has been quite a bit more expensive so far though. So we’ll see what the next nine months brings.”
