Council approves new rainy day fund

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Brandon City Council approved the creation of a new fiscal contingency fund at its Monday meeting, but not before its intended purpose was slightly amended.

In the motion as written in Monday’s agenda, the reserve would have provided “funds for irregular events, planned or unplanned, which are unable to be accommodated within the operating budget of the City of Brandon.”

Amended, it now will provide “funds for unforeseen events.”

The opening balance of the reserve comes from a $2,341,904 increase in funding provided by the provincial government last year, minus $966,145 used to cover a budget shortfall in the 2023 fiscal year. That means $1,375,759 will be in the new reserve.

The change in the reserve’s stated purpose came from Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6), who had initially proposed reducing the amount of money put into the reserve to just $500,000.

“We certainly have some reserves that could use some funding,” Luebke said. “I feel that putting close to $1.4 million away in a ‘just in case fund’ is probably not very prudent, especially considering we’re looking at double-digit property tax increases over the next two to three years.”

Coun. Glen Parker (Ward 9) pointed out that council already passed a motion on Sept. 19 moving the full amount into a contingency reserve.

In response, Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 8) said that council could decide to move funds out of the new reserve during budget deliberations on Feb. 2 and 3. Berry added it was “about time” the city established a rainy day fund, but concurred with Luebke that it wasn’t the right time to fully fund it.

“We can use some of that money for other reserves that, we have been told over and over again, are underfunded as opposed to sticking it away for a rainy day,” Berry said. “$500,000, I think, is a good start. I just don’t think we need to put everything in there, but that’s a budget deliberation discussion.”

Luebke also noted the motion presented on Monday had a broader definition for the reserve and what its funds can be used for than originally discussed, and asked why it had been changed.

Accounting manager Troy Tripp apologized for the discrepancy and said he felt that the “planned or unplanned” language offered more flexibility for council in deciding how to use those funds.

“Essentially, if there was a planned, irregular item which would have a significant impact on the budget, it could be built into the financial plan,” Tripp said.

Berry expressed concern that wording would open up the funds to be used for any purpose instead of unplanned or emergency events.

The amended motion with the original wording passed unanimously.

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