‘No small feat’: Montreal posts a surplus for 2023 financial year

After worrying about finishing the year in the red, the city ended 2023 with a small surplus.

The Plante administration filed its annual report for the 2023 financial year Friday, and it finished the year with a better-than-expected surplus of $187.6 million, representing 2.8 per cent of the total revenue. That compares with a surplus of $343.8 million for 2022.

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The city’s net debt increased to $6.7 billion from $6.6 billion, representing 106 per cent of the city’s total revenues. That’s the same debt ratio the city had in 2022. However, the city’s ultimate goal is to reduce its debt ratio to 100 per cent or lower than its revenues by 2027.

“It seems like a big number, but in a budget the size of of Montreal, it’s basically like coming in at a perfect balance,” Luc Rabouin, the executive committee chairperson, told reporters Friday.

Among the other points:

The city received $700,000 more from the 15 demerged municipalities.$60.4 million of the surplus will be returned to the 19 boroughs, $42.5 will go toward the agglomeration council, and the remaining $84.7 million will go to corporate or central city services.

The city also saw a reduction in revenue in its public security department. Despite a record number of hires of 320 new officers, the force only grew by 62 additional police officers, when it had been targeting 225 additional recruits, which is just 28 per cent. As such, the city had to reimburse the province the subsidy that it had received to boost its force.

Achieving a surplus was no small feat, Rabouin reminded reporters.

The city had to rein in spending at the end of last year after projections for a surplus had reduced to just $40 million, with a weaker-than-expected real-estate market and ballooning expenses because of inflation.

As a result, the city froze roughly $81.5 million in expenses not yet accounted for and transferred that money into the reserve funds for snow clearing and unforeseen events. The city also delayed filling 400 vacant jobs, for a savings of $15 million, and froze its $19-million contingency fund. The city also cut back on the purchase of office supplies, computers and desks. It’s limiting out-of-province trips and reining in professional fees.

This report will be updated.

jmagder@postmedia.com

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