Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
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The City of Saskatoon’s COVID-19 related deficit will be smaller than first thought, but it’ll still be a big hole to dig out of.
City councillors were shown a new financial forecast at a meeting on Monday, where Chief Financial Officer Kerry Tarasoff told council the administration is projecting a deficit of just under $14 million.
This is down from the up to $69 million deficit that was feared in April if COVID-19 restrictions stayed in place throughout 2020.
Tarasoff said adjustments approved at that April meeting led to nearly $30 million in budget savings. Those measures included nearly $1.2 million in fuel savings, $12.68 million in operational expenditure reductions, $2 million in reduced bulk power charges, almost $4 million in utility stabilization reserves and $1 million in streetscape reserves.
An additional $9.5 million was saved because of discretionary hiring, cutting travel expenses, partial use of existing reserves and service adjustments.
However, Tarasoff cautioned that even with those savings, the numbers could and would likely change over time.
“As the situation changes, these assumptions will likely change as well. Therefore, the forecast has a higher rate of volatility as these assumptions are difficult to link to any previous experience,” he said.
The City is expecting to lose nearly $40 million in revenue because of adjustments in transit access, parking metres, the closure of leisure centres, fewer traffic fines, lower landfill traffic and utility revenue — among other losses.
Tarasoff also explained that $15 million in reserves from a paved roadways reserve is being held to offset any potential additional deficit at the end of the year. The money was allocated by the provincial government for the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) to help cities and town recover from the pandemic.
He added that significant adjustments to the 2021 budget could be considered before finalizing the figures as well.
Municipalities aren’t allowed to operate with deficit budgets according to provincial law. This rule means city council will have to balance the books when they debate the budget in the fall.
Estimated numbers for 2021 would be brought forward in November for discussion, with budget deliberations scheduled for Nov. 28.