City Facing $1.9-Million Tax-Supported Deficit from 2023
Thunder Bay – The office of the city treasurer recommends allocating $1 million from Thunder Bay’s WSIB reserve to partially offset the municipality’s $1.9-million tax-supported operating deficit for 2023. This deficit accounts for 0.8 percent of Thunder Bay’s $218.4 million municipal tax levy for 2023.
The remaining $900,000 would be transferred from the stabilization reserve.
Corporate expenditures contributed the most to the deficit, exceeding the budget by over $4.7 million, according to a report scheduled for presentation at Monday night’s committee of the whole meeting.
Thunder Bay Police Services overspent by $2.8 million, a figure that would have been significantly higher without $500,000 in provincial grants.
The Thunder Bay Police Services Board added $300,000 in unplanned expenses, primarily due to increased legal costs.
The city’s recreation and culture department faced a $1.1-million shortfall, attributed to increases in the non-affiliate pay grid and major maintenance projects at the Canada Games Complex, Fort William Stadium, and Port Arthur Stadium.
On the negative side, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue reported an $800,000 unfavorable variance, and the engineering and operations department fell short by $900,000. This shortfall was primarily due to increased spending on road surface maintenance, traffic control, and street lighting contract services necessitated by significant staff shortages.
Positive variances on the tax-supported side included corporate revenue ($2.9 million), corporate information technology ($500,000), Superior North EMS ($600,000), child care ($700,000), licensing and enforcement ($500,000), and long-term care and senior services ($900,000).
Rate-supported operations had an overall favorable variance of $1.5 million. The additional funds are expected to be transferred to their respective reserve funds in accordance with city bylaws.
As a result, the city’s tax-supported reserve and reserve fund balance now stands at $186.6 million, an increase of $18.4 million from 2022.
