City finances improve slightly despite continued revenue slide for Transit

The City of Winnipeg's financial outlook has improved slightly from its last quarter but the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic remains a drag on its books.

Winnipeg Transit continues to take a hit from reduced revenues, but a combination of austerity measures and federal funds will help with the city's bottom line.

A report to the finance committee shows a total shortfall across all departments of $22.9 million — an improvement from the forecasted $30.3 million from the last forecast in the second quarter of the year.

Transit continues to sit on the weak side of the city's books, showing a loss of $32.4 million due to lower ridership because of the pandemic.

The shortfall in transit revenue is being made up by a transfer from the city's fiscal stabilization fund. The fund has $89 million left in its account. 

The city is mandated by council to maintain a balance of $68.7 million in the fund and must balance its books at the end of the year.

The city is hurting from a combination of higher expenses and reduced revenue from a number of departments.

The Winnipeg Police Service has seen a $3.8 million drop in photo enforced ticket revenue and unrealized gains from officer pensions. The Fire Paramedic Service has seen costs rise $4.8 million from overtime and expenses for personal protective equipment, and a temporary waiver of penalties for late property and business taxes has cost the city $9.7 million.

A combination of austerity measures helped stem some of the balance sheet bleeding. Those included temporary lay-offs, a freeze of senior management salaries, a voluntary furlough program and temporary lay-offs at Winnipeg Transit. 

Federal money will help the city's bottom line

The city received $42.2 million from the federal government's Safe Restart program on October 28, but the cash has yet to be calculated into it's financial statements.

The city is also awaiting a further injection of cash from Safe Restart earmarked for the loss in Transit revenues. That money will be doled out by the provincial government, but the paperwork is still being sorted.

In a news release, city finance chair Scott Gillingham said the money from Ottawa would be used "to address the city's significant forecasted shortfall in Transit, as well as to offset revenue losses in the operating budget."

It's expected the assistance will put the city in a better position to manage the effects of the pandemic in 2021.