Halfway through the year, St. Thomas is on pace to end 2026 about $500,000 short in its day-to-day operating budget. That comes from a mid-year financial report City Treasurer Adam Boylan gave council Monday night, the same meeting that also covered the Hepburn Parkette funding request.
If the shortfall holds, it will be the third year in a row the city has finished in the red. Last year’s gap was about $1 million, driven mostly by a shortfall in police grant funding and fire department overtime.
This year the pressure points have shifted. Fire Services is over budget because of overtime needed to keep crews at full strength while some firefighters are on leave. Environmental Services is over too, since last winter’s snow and ice control cost more than planned, and higher fuel prices are pushing up the city’s transit and garbage contracts. Human Resources is also short, because more staff are on WSIB claims than usual.
Other departments are covering part of the gap. City Clerk, Treasury, and Planning are all running surpluses this year, mostly from unfilled staff positions and stronger-than-expected fees. Corporate finance also picked up an extra $674,000 in property tax revenue tied to new development added to the tax rolls this spring.
There is a second money story tucked into the same report. The city’s main reserve for paying for roads, buildings, and other capital work, called the Infrastructure Reserve, is currently overcommitted and expected to go negative. To fix that, staff are asking council to approve $7.4 million in new long-term borrowing that was already planned for the city’s affordable housing projects, with the borrowed money used to top the reserve back up.
None of this is final. The borrowing still needs its own by-law before any money moves. As of this morning, the meeting minutes are not posted yet, so the vote results are not on the public record.
Sources: City of St. Thomas staff report TR-18-26, July 13, 2026 council agenda · St. Thomas 2025 operating deficit coverage, St. Thomas Today
Edited by Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom