Desiree Kennedy, “the surplus from
general municipal operations of
approximately $3.9 million represents
less than 1 percent of the total
operating budget.”
Latest financial numbers show that
the 2018 operating budget of $378
million was left with a surplus partly
because of staff vacancies, lower
discretionary spending and higher-
than-expected revenues in engineering
services, cultural services and Kingston
Fire & Rescue and additional gas tax
receipts in transit.
City finance officials say the fire
department’s year-end surplus of
$521,000 is based on higher revenues,
reduced contracting services and
lower staffing costs. As well, the
engineering department recorded a
$177,000 surplus due to higher
revenues and savings from the switch
to LED street lighting. The parking
division, responsible for handing out
parking tickets, generated a $672,000
surplus, due to more fines being
issued and staff vacancies. Kingston
Transit also recorded a $286,000
surplus due to additional provincial
gas tax subsidies.
The community services department
— which oversees social services,
Ontario Works, Rideaucrest seniors
home, planning, building and
licensing, cultural services, local rinks
and the Leon’s Centre — racked up a
surplus of $1.9 million on a net budget
of $40.7 million.
Kingston’s flagship arena finished
2018 with a $655,000 profit, about
$60,000 higher than expected. It’s
based on revenues of $2.8 million and
operating costs of $2.2 million at the
Leon’s Centre.
Even though the city-owned but
privately managed venue hosted 34
concerts, family shows, trade shows,
conventions and other events — far
fewer than the 61 events it expected —
revenues were on track due to the
Kingston Frontenacs playoff run last
spring, more ice rentals and lower costs
to run the sports and entertainment
centre. Over 216,000 people passed
through the turnstiles last year, about
11,000 fewer than what was expected.
Of all the municipal rinks that
require tax subsidies, only the
Memorial Centre exceeded its revenue
targets with $435,000 compared with
the budgeted goal of $425,000.
While tax spending was lower in
some municipal departments, other
departments went over budget.
The city’s fleet of municipal vehicles
guzzled $500,000 in extra fuel, while
costs linked to an extended winter
season also took a toll on the budget.
The public works department had a
$1.2 million deficit in 2018. Of that, an
extra $830,000 was spent on winter
materials such as salt, sand and
contracted services. The remaining
$289,000 deficit stemmed from higher
costs to maintain local parks.
The city’s blue box program also
took a financial hit last year as
revenues from the sale of recyclables
were down by about $200,000.
“Throughout 2018, we continued to
see a weakening in the markets for
recyclables, which put pressure on
projected revenues from the sale of
these materials,” according to a year-
end report to council.
The treasurer says the net result is a
$3.9 million surplus for municipal
coffers.
Staff asked council to direct almost
all of the surplus money into four
reserve accounts: workplace safety
and insurance; transit; library; and a
working fund reserve. The lion’s share
of the surplus will be put into the
working fund reserve account, which
is used to cover one-time or
unforeseen expenses and to help cover
any costs related to council motions.
Utilities Kingston took in $5 million
more than it spent last year for water,
sewage treatment and natural gas
distribution services. But rather than
offer rate rebates for customers, the
surplus will be placed into capital
reserve accounts for utilities upgrades
in the future.
The city-owned public utility lists a
combination of higher-than-budgeted
revenues and lower-than-expected
spending for the net surplus. For
example, a colder-than-expected
winter meant homeowners turned up
the heat more often, resulting in extra
gas distribution revenues, according
to the city’s financial report.A
decade-long $63 million
project to widen John Counter
Boulevard (JCB) is entering its final
phase, but pedestrians will have to
deal with a missing link.
The City of Kingston is expected to
award a contract this summer to begin
construction of a bridge over the mainCN tracks, but the bridge deck will
not be wide enough to accommodate
a sidewalk on both sides in keeping
with the city’s current policy to
promote active transportation.
The missing sidewalk reflects 13
years of changing bridge design plans
and current municipal priorities.
City transportation officials say a
2 006 environmental study for the
overpass deck included room for four
lanes of traffic, plus on-road bicycle
lanes and sidewalks on both sides.
However, the bridge was narrowed
and the south sidewalk was removed
following a 2009 risk analysis that
shaved $1 million from the overall
project cost. “This change maintained
the on-road cycling lanes and the
north-side sidewalk; however, the
south-side sidewalk was removed,”
according to a June report to council.
Ten years later, city politicians have
placed a much greater focus on active
transportation, reducing sidewalk gaps
and eliminating barriers to active trips.
Staff say the recent policy changes
would have a costly impact to
reconfigure the bridge to include
sidewalks on both sides. “If the design
was determined to be feasible, it is
estimated to increase the capital cost
by approximately $3.5 million and
introduce a delay of approximately
30 months.”
The bridge will still have just one
sidewalk, but it will now be located
on the south side of the overpass to
make it more accommodating to
pedestrians. City officials say it allows
direct connectivity for pedestrians
between Princess Street and the Via
Rail station from the west and
Portsmouth Avenue from the east, and
it connects to the existing and planned
multi-use path network on Portsmouth
Avenue, Leroy Grant Drive and the
Third Crossing without having to
cross JCB.
If the narrowed bridge proceeds as
planned, pedestrians would have to
cross to the south side of JCB to walk
across the bridge using future traffic
lights at Portsmouth Avenue and Old
Mill Road.
John Counter Boulevard is a key
transportation corridor that handles
thousands of commuters every day,
and will eventually connect to the
city’s $180 million Third Crossing
bridge over the Cataraqui River.
Work to widen the east-west route20 JULY 17, 2019