The City of Calgary’s year-end budget projection is showing an unfavourable balance of $2.75 million, according to the second quarterly report for 2009.
The report on the city’s operating budget will be presented to the finance committee today.
“Administration’s job is to balance the budget by the end of the year,” said Ald. Gord Lowe, chair of the finance committee.
He said he’s confident they will find a way to balance things out.
“They’ve got half the year to bring it into line,” Lowe said.
A number of departments are showing a favourable balance, Lowe said.
Some of that is attributed to savings in salaries and wages due to unfilled positions.
“The hirings were anticipated expenditures and they didn’t materialize as a result of the economy,” said Lowe.
The transportation department has the largest year-to-date unfavourable balance at $3.1 million.
The report lists high costs for spring clean-up of the roads and higher material, fuel and utilities costs for Calgary Transit.
About 20 per cent of the city’s $2.75 billion budget was spent by the end of the second quarter.
