Executive Report on Revenue and Expenditure for Fiscal 2023

The City of St. John’s Executive Summary Report on Revenue and Expenditure for Fiscal 2023 was presented at the regular meeting of City Council today by Councillor Ron Ellsworth, lead councillor for Finance and Administration. This report shows that for 2023 the City had an operating surplus of $9.03M or 2.67% of budget. The report also shows the City has an accumulated cash surplus as of December 31, 2023, of $20.6M. This includes the Fiscal 2023 operating cash surplus, as well as the unused allocation from previous years.

The Recommendation put forth to Council today is to approve the use of $10M from accumulated surplus to reduce the City’s future borrowing needs thereby reducing future principal and interest payments on such debt. It is further recommended the remaining $10.6M be held as contingency, mitigating future risks of future unforeseen events.

The City’s budgetary performance has been encouragingly reaffirmed by credit rating agency S&P Global. The City of St. John’s outlook was recently reevaluated by S&P Global Ratings from a rating of “stable” to “positive”. On a rating scale of AAA to D, the City continues to maintain an “AA-” status, demonstrating a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments. The City's healthy budgetary performance will accommodate financing its capital plan over the next few years, help maintain a manageable debt burden, and support liquidity balances.