Saint John facing $3.7M deficit due to snow removal

The City of Saint John is projecting a $3.7 million deficit this year, primarily due to staggering snow removal costs this winter.

"It's overbudget, but we couldn't avoid that cost," said Coun. Shirley McAlary, one of several councillors who pointed out that Mother Nature left the city no choice.

But with the city already in a tight financial situation, finding savings to cover the deficit won't be easy, said Mayor Mel Norton.

"Three-and-a-half million dollars requires much more effort than small savings here and there. We require large savings in a relatively short period of time, and that's going to require a different kind of analysis," he said.

"We can always budget better, we can always get the small details better, more refined, but this is going to take a different kind of effort."

Council has asked the provincial government for disaster relief funding, but it's unclear if that will come through.

I like the idea of looking, 'What we can do now to lessen this blow,' so we don't end up raising the taxes.- Bill Farren, city councillor

Saint John declared a local state of emergency in February after a series of back-to-back snowstorms.

As of mid-March, the city had officially broken a 52-year-old snowfall record with more than 470 centimetres of snow, up from the old record of 424 centimetres in 1962-63.

Finance commissioner Greg Yeomans stressed the numbers he presented to council during Monday night's meeting are preliminary.

Still, Norton says it's better to have all of the information early, so no time is wasted trying to cover the shortfall.

Coun. Bill Farren agrees.

"I like the idea of looking, 'What we can do now to lessen this blow,' so we don't end up raising the taxes."

Acting city manager Bill Edwards says city departments will be asked to identify savings.