At Tuesday’s (July 26, 2016) City Council meeting, City staff updated the five-year Budget Forecast to incorporate the FY 2016-17 adopted budget and the latest data on revenue and spending projections. While we are okay for now, maintaining a balanced budget and building a 10 per cent reserve will require an annual increase in revenues or decrease in expenses of $3.8 million.

Two things that could have significant positive impact would be to secure concessions from the remaining labor unions that have not yet reached an agreement and passing the increased document transfer tax in November 2016.

The worst thing that could happen is passage of the Kids First Initiative, which would plunge the budget and the reserves into a significant deficit.