The City of Calgary has announced a budget surplus of $238 million for 2023

In a world of deficits, the City of Calgary has announced a budget surplus for fiscal year 2023.

A report on corporate planning and financial services presented at the city council's executive committee meeting on Tuesday showed a surplus of about $238 million.

This is slightly lower than the 2022 budget surplus of $258.7 million.

According to the report, the surplus is the result of “higher-than-expected investment income and additional income, lower corporate spending and favorable variance on several tax-supported services.”

The report said $100 million of the surplus was allocated by the council to one-off investments in “community priorities” in the city.

As for the remaining surplus – $137.7 million – the council is expected to make a decision soon, which will direct it to cover inflationary costs accumulated in capital projects.

One of the city's areas that saw higher-than-expected revenue was local access charges due to high electricity prices.

Discounts are not an option

Councilwoman Sonya Sharp said a surplus is better than a deficit, but she's not happy with the size of the number.

“After seeing our taxes go up 8.6 percent, it's disappointing to see the surplus move forward,” Sharp said.

“So what I'm upset about is that we're not budgeting properly.”

He said he wouldn't be surprised if Calgarians ask for tax breaks after seeing a budget surplus.

“Unfortunately, the administration and the CFO say you can't do that because you create a ripple effect. But what we need to start doing is budgeting for the services Calgarians are asking for. We probably don't need it right now.”

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek asked city council to be clear when reporting variances in projected budgets.

Combined with last year's reported surplus, this means the city has collected nearly half a billion dollars over budget for the past two years.