The City of Saskatoon is facing a $5.7 million deficit.
That’s according to a report the administration presented to city councillors during a committee meeting on Monday morning.
The November 2020 blizzard is the cause of nearly half of the shortfall. City staff and contractors spent weeks clearing the nearly 40 cm of snow that fell in a few days.
The original cost, city officials said in December, was $14.5 million.
In subsequent council and committee meetings, councillors voted to direct different contingency funds and provincial government help towards the transportation account to pay for the cost.
The city still has some money it can use to help reduce the deficit even further.
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The report states councillors can direct $3.7 million from the Canada Community Building Fund and $1.25 million from the provincial government to reduce the shortfall to $739,100.
Council will have to offset the rest of that amount. The Cities Act, the provincial act that regulates how cities can be governed, prohibits municipalities from running a deficit.
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Saskatoon’s projected losses could have been much worse. The document states the Saskatoon utilities department is projecting an $8.1-million surplus because residents used more water and power during the hot and dry summer.
Stating that climate change was a main cause of both the positive and negative impacts on the budget, Coun. Randy Donauer asked the administration whether the city could direct more money from its returns towards stabilization measures.
Angela Gardiner, the utilities and environment general manager, said the surplus would be put towards the stabilization reserves and then the capital reserves.
Responding to Mayor Charlie Clark’s question about how to reconcile the surplus with the recently raised rates and climate change, Gardiner said the administration will present a more detailed report during the city’s upcoming budget deliberations.
The administration also confirmed reverse balances come before the council during deliberations.
The report also stated the SaskTel Centre is forecasting a $3.7 million loss, TCU Place a $2.9 million deficit and the Remai Modern is expecting to break even.
The administration scheduled budget deliberations to begin on Nov. 29.
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