(Submitted photo/Becky Zimmer)

By Becky Zimmer

Annual report

City of Humboldt expecting higher growth and spending challenges as they recap 2022

Jul 21, 2023 | 10:01 AM

The City of Humboldt released its annual report this past week with plenty of things to celebrate in 2022, but there are challenges ahead.

The city continues to maintain its financial stability with a couple of important jumps to note. The independent audit done by MNP in Humboldt put the city’s revenue for the year at $17.2 million, a $1.1 million increase compared to 2021. Expenses came in at $16 million, with an operating surplus of $1.05 and another $1.8 received through provincial and federal capital grants.

This adds up to a $2.9 million surplus in 2022 and nearly $1.7 million was put against the city’s outstanding debts.

With an over $800,000 increase in expenses over 2021, City Manager Joe Day said they are expecting that to continue year over year due to inflation. They are having to be even more careful with their spending since many of the products and services are coming back higher than they budgeted for. Building materials and labour are also increasing faster than inflation, he said, so some capital projects are on hold for 2024.

“After we solicited tender responses, the bids just came back so high that we are having to reevaluate whether we can proceed with those or not, or how to proceed with those.”

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Looking at upcoming projects in 2024, Day is expecting the lagoon project that will be started in the spring will come in at $30 million.

With a 2.8 per cent growth in population from 2016 to 2021 and an average of nearly 34 people a year, Day said he is expecting even more through 2024-2027 with the area continuing to thrive and change.

“I do think that the City of Humboldt is well positioned for the growth that is coming and we’ve been doing a lot of things with working with other agencies and businesses to bring events back to the community and try and spur on that optimism that we really feel is growing in the community and then and in the region.”

It was a rough start for the city, said Day, with huge snowstorms taxing the city’s snow removal budget.

Despite that, Day said they were able to complete a few important capital projects, including some work on the provincial highways that were split nearly 50/50 with the province through the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.

This included the majority of Hwy 5 being resurfaced within city limits, rebuilding a south section of Hwy 20, a turning lane going on to 21st Street west of the city and widening some sections for better turning access for trucks.

The city also was able to maintain its water main replacement goals with a few blocks a year chosen from a priority list.

There is no end to this project, said Day, and some blocks need it more than others with water main breaks always a risk in the spring.

“Every year that goes by, even those pipes that were put in the ground just 30 years ago, get a little older. The list never has an end to it, but if every year we replace two blocks of water mains, which is kind of the pace that we’ve been on, we’re at least keeping up to the degradation or the depreciation.”

In the whole of 2022, the city had 27 new building projects valued at $6,123,999, six were new constructions, while the other 19 were high-cost renovations.

Storefront business also saw a slight jump but Day said the city has changed their categorization in 2022. Of the 482 total businesses operating in the city, 70 per cent are storefronts while the other 30 per cent are home-based.

With a $4.1 million increase in its reserves, that significant jump puts their reserves at $10.1 million. This is basically acting as a rainy day fund in case of unexpected expenses, said Day.

“Expenses are hard to plan for when it’s going to happen…We’re putting more money into the bank for the eventualities that things just need to be replaced.”

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim