The City of Winnipeg is unveiling its deficit action plan to save millions of dollars that can’t be covered by its rainy day fund.
The plan comes after a recent projection that the city will end this year with a $39.3-million deficit to its tax-supported operating budget, while its financial stabilization reserve (that typically covers shortfalls) had a balance of $15.7 million at the start of 2024.
The new plan avoids drastic cuts to address that shortfall, with no mention of service reductions or layoffs.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
City of Winnipeg finance committee chairmanJeff Browaty: “All-hands-on-deck.”
“I think it makes sense. At this point, we don’t need to do anything radical to make the numbers work,” said Coun. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan), chairman of the finance committee.
The 2024 city budget topped up the rainy day fund with a $15.4-million transfer from general revenues, while interest earnings will add another $600,000. That’s expected to bring the fund to $31.7 million by the end of the year, which reduces the unaccounted potential shortfall to $7.6 million.
The city will use debt deferral to save $2.8 million this year, devote $4 million from expected interest earnings to reducing the deficit and use expenditure management to save another $800,000.
“Departments will be directed to actively manage their expenditures through the deferral of operating expenses and strict management of their vacancies to generate additional savings. All discretionary expenditures will be under additional scrutiny to meet budget targets,” the report notes.
Browaty acknowledged multiple city departments have already been tasked to save millions of dollars this year to balance their books, so the expenditure management effort could prove challenging.
“To be frank, it is a fairly aggressive amount but we have professional directors and this is one of these all-hands-on-deck (actions),” said Browaty.
The councillor said the large deficit projection is relatively small when compared to the size of the city’s overall $1.4-billion operating budget, so “there’s no need to hit the panic button” just yet.
Browaty noted city finances also tend to improve in the later months of the calendar year, meaning some other savings may be found.
The savings strategy falls under the authority of city finance officials and does not require approval from elected officials.
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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