The financial plan for the Downtown Centre is in good shape, according to Moncton’s Chief Financial Officer.
John Martin made a presentation to City Council Monday, including options on how to pay for $4.2 million of the total budgeted cost of the project.
“We know that we can provide some capital reserve funding, the City has put a lot of work into building their reserves for various purposes,” says Martin. “Of course this project has been on the go now for a number of years, so we knew that we would require some reserve funding so we made sure funding was away for that.”
Other options presented included borrowing more money, raising the tax rate, or adding it to the operating budget, although Martin recommends the use of reserves.
“There’s a funding plan that we’ve worked with over the last number of years, it’s not costs that were not expected or not approved by Council or anything else, it’s just saying right now, with covering these costs here are some options for you,” explains Martin.
By the end of 2017, they will have $6.2 million in reserve accounts that could cover this funding need.