City asserts focus on ‘long-term sustainability’ as draft annual report shows budget deficits

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The city’s draft annual report has been published, showing the city is highly reliant on outside transfers and has had budget deficits for the past five years.

The City of Fort St. John has released its draft annual report, which includes details on the municipality’s financial condition. 

City council also approved the 2024 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) or Sunshine List, which detailed funding spent on staff, goods and services during the June 9th council meeting. 

The document described the city to be highly reliant on grants, bursaries and other outside transfers of funding, and had a high budget deficit over the past five years. 

In 2024 alone, the city received $32.74 million in transfers from other governments, be they other municipalities, the province or the federal government. In the past five years, the city’s budget has seen a deficit every year. 

A deficit occurs when a municipality’s expenses exceed the revenue for that fiscal year, and the excess must be paid out of the next year’s tax levy. 

Shirley Collington, the city’s director of finance, told Energeticcity.ca the majority of the transfers from other governments go into the capital program to replace aging infrastructure and build amenities.

“The fact that we received almost $33 million in grants in 2024, including over $26 million in Peace River Agreement funds, should be celebrated,” Collington said.

“While five deficits in the past five years isn’t ideal, we must recognize the rapid inflationary increases and volatile economic conditions experienced during this time. It’s also important to note that persistent large surpluses would indicate we are overtaxing our residents. Our focus is on long-term sustainability, not short-term optics.”

The report also highlighted a low residential tax burden, a good three-year budget accuracy and a low outstanding debt balance. 

Collington added: “In the past three years alone, we’ve managed over $228 million in expenditures with budget accuracy over 99 per cent. That level of precision speaks to responsible financial management, even amid inflation and supply chain challenges.

“We don’t shy away from being transparent about our challenges. This annual report reflects the city’s commitment to open communication with citizens while continuing to responsibly manage the services, facilities and infrastructure our community relies on.”

In Fort St. John, the average household income is $124,371, and the average residential tax bill is $3,202. 

The municipality has a total of $37.75 million in outstanding, long-term debt to repay, paying $1.79 million in interest on said debt in 2024. 

The city also noted it will need to make significant investments soon in several pieces of municipal infrastructure reaching the end of their useful life. According to the financial report, the net value of all capital assets in 2024 was $565.32 million, while the original cost of said assets was $753.23 million.

According to financial statements included in the report, the city has approximately $50.2 million in cash and bank savings. 

To read the complete draft annual report, view below.