Winnipeg reports $7.2M surplus

The City of Winnipeg is reporting a year-end surplus of more than $7 million, attributing the funds to the police headquarters settlement.

On Monday, the city released its financial status report for 2024, which shows a $7.2 million surplus in the tax-supported operating budget.

The city noted that its most recent report projected a $20.5 million year-end deficit. It explained the $27.7 million improvement is largely due to a $22.5 million receivable from the police headquarters settlement.

“While we are pleased to report a year-end surplus, the reality is we continue to operate under a structural deficit, and our Financial Stabilization Reserve is still well below the Council-mandated minimum balance,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty in a news release.

“The current uncertainty in the Canadian economy underscores the importance of the measures we announced in the most recent budget, which will help stabilize our reserves and ensure we are responsibly budgeting for future years.”

The surplus will be transferred to the financial stabilization reserve, bringing the balance to $17.6 million.

The City of Winnipeg added that costs for snow operations, spring cleaning, and road operations exceeded the budget by $23.3 million—a $5.9 million increase from the November report.

Browaty said despite the surplus, the city still has a lot of work to do to become more financially secure.

“We’re not out of the woodwork yet,” he said. “We have a lot of pressures, like in terms of things that we are under budgeting. I do want to double down and figure out why snow costs have exploded as much as they have, because the last contract renewals came in a lot higher than ever before.”

Rebuilding the city’s rainy-day fund, which was heavily drawn from during the COVID-19 pandemic, is also important for Browaty. The city is raising property taxes by 5.95 per cent this year, which he said could help fund services and rebuild the rainy day fund.

“We have a little bit more leeway to fund things properly,” Browaty said.

The full report can be found online.