October snow and ice storm batters Winnipeg city finances for 2019

A blanket of heavy snow and ice lastOctober has forced the City of Winnipeg to saw out some extra cash from its fiscal reserve fund at the end of 2019.

Cleaning up thousands of fallen trees and branches and clearing the icy streets forced the city to spend $6.4 million after the late-October storm.

The result is a deficit that will be eliminatedby a draw of $1.1 million out ofits reserve fund, according to areport to the city's finance committee.

Last year the cityposted a surplus of $19.5 million one of the largest in many years.

• City of Winnipeg posts $19.5M surplus for 2018 operations

The storm cost a further $800,000 in expenses to the city's water and waste department and a projected $400,000 in costs to be paid out in 2020, but those amounts are not included in the city's book-balancing for the past year.

The city may recover at least some of the expenses; last month the Manitoba government announced it would start a disaster financial assistance program for the storm.

Overall, the city's snow removal and ice control operations for last year ran an over-expenditure of $9.8 million on a total budget of$34.8 million.

The city also overspent on legal services by $1 million, mostly related to payments for external legal fees.

Higher vehicle maintenance costs and fewerinspection fees resulted in a $1.8-million shortfall in the Fire Paramedic Service budget.

The final financial report for 2019also showsWinnipeg Transit postinga surplus of $6.9 million, saving money on fuel purchases and on salaries and benefits and debt financing.

The preliminary budget for 2020 and three years beyond will be tabled on March 6.