City of Edmonton ends 2022 with $81.5M operating budget surplus

The City of Edmonton ended last year with an operating budget surplus of $81.5 million, according to a preliminary report presented to city council Tuesday.

The report said 2.5 per cent of the 2022 operating budget was not spent.

One of the biggest sources for the surplus was staffing costs. The city said many jobs were not staffed over the year, especially jobs maintaining city-owned vehicles and buildings, accounting for $18.3 million of the surplus.

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Almost $60 million of the surplus came from the city’s “financial strategies,” a fund that is used to cushion the budget from unexpected swings, according to Kent Bjornstad, the city’s finance manager.

“The financial strategies budget is (used to) … manage the risk of fluctuations and volatility within budgeted line items for items such as fuel and utility costs, and to provide flexibility for unknown items over the course of the four-year operating budget cycle,” said Bjornstad.

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Another chunk of the surplus came from the fact the city wasn’t expecting to bounce back from COVID and related restrictions as quickly. Transit fares, parking revenue and earnings from recreation centres and city attractions, as well as events at Commonwealth Stadium were all higher than what the city assumed they would be.

In all, about $11.7 million in the surplus can be attributed to a speedier-than-expected recovery from COVID restrictions.

Bjornstad said much of the surplus will go towards replenishing various funds that were accessed during budget deliberations. That includes the city’s financial stabilization reserve, emergency cash the city can pull from between budgets if needed.

“It is required to replenish our FSR, which will likely be required to address one-time emergent budget pressures over the next four-year cycle,” said Bjornstad.

The FSR is required to stay at around $122 million but last year it fell to $68 million after some was used for various items in the 2023-2026 budget.

About $5 million remains once the FSR is replenished and will remain unallocated, the city said.

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