• The Town recently released its third-quarter financial results, offering a comprehensive overview of Stouffville’s operating costs, revenues, and capital project spending through September 30, 2023.
  • As of September 30, 2023, the Town has reported a favourable operating budget position of $114,700, a decrease from the mid-year surplus of $868,000.
  • “Based on current spending and the decrease in revenue in some key program areas, Staff are forecasting that the Town will be in a [$401,600] deficit position at year-end,” the related Staff report explains.
  • The report attributes the projected negative operating variance to several factors, including changes in Provincial legislation such as Bill 23 affecting development-driven revenues, increased part-time salaries and benefits in Leisure and Community Services, and unforeseen property maintenance costs.
  • The 2023 capital program, totalling $63.9 million, includes over $31 million in new 2023 projects and just under $33 million in capital budget items carried forward from prior years.
  • As of September 30, $13,609,387 has been spent through the capital program. While an additional $11.9 million is planned for deployment by December 31, capital spending will remain well behind schedule through 2023.
  • The Town’s rate-based budgets are also in an overall unfavourable position, with the combined Water and Wastewater budgets projected to be $708,100 in the red by year-end.
  • However, surpluses from Building Services, Cemetery, and Library and Latcham Art Centre budgets put the overall rate-based budget deficit forecast at $307,300.
  • The report also touched on progress made in collecting outstanding property taxes, highlighting $6,575,138 in outstanding taxes collected between May 1 and November 17, 2023. Those revenues were higher than expected.

 

Development charges (DCs) revenue, a major funding mechanism for development-driven capital and infrastructure projects, continues to be well below 2023 forecasts. To date, just 44 residential units have provided $779,000 in DC returns when the Town was expecting $11.117 million derived from 469 units.

Staff noted that 400 long-term care units received building permits in the last quarter. However, due to Provincial legislation, the Town is not able to collect related DCs until those units are occupied. They were therefore not included in the report’s calculations.

Non-residential DCs are also well below 2023 projections. 36,425 square feet of non-residential development has been realized while 475,890 square feet were forecasted. This has resulted in just $235,000 in non-residential DC collections compared to the $3 million hoped for by the Town. Staff noted that they expect to see an increase in non-residential development through the fourth quarter.

Rate adjustments made through the 2024 budget aim to address some of these deficits. Staff have also moved to enact new and increased fees for 2024 across various Town departments, which have been approved by Council in recent meetings.

Thankfully, Staff are optimistic that inflation is beginning to calm following an extended period of high inflation impacting both operating and capital budgets. On the operations side, inflation has increased costs to vehicle and equipment maintenance, building materials and repairs, gas and energy prices, and contracted services. Capital financing has also seen cost increases in maintaining and replacing infrastructure, as related budgets and expenditures were proposed based on a much lower inflation assumption.

According to the report, “the probability of a slowdown in inflationary pressures is growing as economic growth and labour markets appear to be softening. It is anticipated that Bank of Canada will not hike rates further.” Supply chains are also improving, and declining gasoline prices have helped lower the Town’s energy costs.

A report covering year-end finances will be presented to Council in early 2024.

 

*tables source: FTS-017-23 Third Quarter Financial Results report.