City projects rising year-end surplus Transit balance up, cost of Waverley underpass down
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/01/2019 (2138 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg city hall’s financial picture is looking rosy.
Councillors returning to work following the Christmas break were greeted Monday with a series of good-news financial updates:
- The projected 2018 year-end surplus is more than $14 million, and is expected to climb higher.
- Winnipeg Transit’s 2018 projected surplus has increased to $12.8 million from $7.9 million.
- The cost of the Waverley Street underpass project has been reduced for the second time, to less than $100 million.
An administrative report to Friday’s meeting of the finance committee reports the projected 2018 year-end surplus is $14.2 million (as of the end of November), and is expected to climb when the final accounting is completed.
The previous update had pegged the surplus, as of the end of September, at $9.5 million.
“It is encouraging that the city’s year-end operating budget forecast has continued to trend positively throughout 2018,” Coun. Scott Gillingham, chairman of the finance committee, said in a prepared statement issued by city hall.
Not even clean-up from two December snowstorms are expected to impact the surplus, said Gillingham (St. James).
Council policy requires any year-end surplus be transferred to the financial stabilization reserve account.
The report also noted Winnipeg Transit’s projected year-end surplus has jumped to $12.8 million.
Transit’s surplus is expected to dominate discussions Tuesday at the public works committee meeting, where the issues of bus driver shields and electrifying the city fleet are on the agenda.
The larger surplus, which reflects Transit’s financial situation to the end of November, is attributed to fare revenues higher than expected, and lower expense costs.
Transit reported at the end of September fare revenue would be $4.2-million higher than budgeted — an amount that has since risen to $5.5 million.
A separate report noted the cost of the Waverley underpass project has been lowered for a second time, to $97.9 million. Council had approved the railway underpass project with a $156-million price tag, which had dropped to $121.3 in November 2017.
Officials are reporting the project cost has now dropped another $23.4 million. The project savings is attributed to competitive construction bids and a change in the design of the bridge.
The report notes the bridge component of the project was completed Aug. 31, 2018, two weeks behind schedule. The delay was attributed to difficult subsurface conditions during installation of its foundation.
aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca
