St. John's announces surplus of more than $12M from 2016 budget

The City of St. John's has released its annual cash budget report for 2016, which shows the city has a surplus of $12,098,697 — or 4.9 per cent of the city's budget for that year.

The cash surplus comes from a 4.4 per cent savings on spending for the 2016 budget, which amounts to $13.4 million.

The city generated $1.3 million, or 0.4 per cent, less than it had projected which brought the surplus down to just over $12 million.

While full details can be found in the 2016 cash report, the city said the most notable savings came from the Water and Waste Water Division, which spent $6 million less than budgeted over the last year. The city's general administration department saved $2.9 million.

Mayor touts program review for savings

The city said it will add the surplus money to its general funds to be used in future years. In a statement, Mayor Dennis O'Keefe credited the program review process, which began in January 2016 and was launched to try and save cash in the 2017 budget, for the surplus cash.

"Some of the changes that occurred during the review took effect immediately and many of these savings were realized in 2016," he wrote. "The city has taken the program review process seriously and has made significant progress in
reducing expenses."