At Monday night's meeting, Burnaby council took a look at its books for 2012 and found a big chunk of change leftover.
According to the 2012 financial report from the City of Burnaby's audit committee, there is a general municipal surplus of $1,808,884 and a library surplus of $506,581.
"It's been a great year for the City of Burnaby," Coun. Dan Johnston said at Monday night's meeting. "The report that's before us is a clean audit report for those people that are into reading audit reports."
What major items aided the surplus was a $1,477,400 increase from the planning and building department's revenue, $412,542 from grants-in-lieu of taxes and $355,227 from the investment income.
Council approved the more than $1.8 million general surplus transfer to the stabilization fund, which exists to reduce one-time expenditure impacts on the city's operating budget. The library's surplus will remain with the Library Board.
The 2013 provisional plan includes stabilization funding of $1,028,685.
According to the report, the city's financial position was strong last year with an increase in accumulated surplus (net worth) of $99.5 million. In 2011, it was $80.8 million.
The city's total accumulated net worth, which means all assets that exceed liabilities, for 2012 is more than $3.1 billion.
The largest increase in last year's revenue, compared to 2011, came from the sale of goods and services.
The city's investment portfolio totaled $610 million as of Dec. 31, 2012. In 2011, it was $529 million.
Government transfers decreased due to the completion of one-time cost sharing agreements for capital projects in 2011, the report states. Transfers from restricted funds and development cost charges were down $1.3 million over 2011 "due to the nature of capital works undertaken in 2012."
The city spent more than $93 million on the acquisition and construction of "tangible capital assets," such as the Edmonds Community Centre and the Still Creek Recycling/Green Waste Depot and Works Yard.
Other capital asset spending includes pavement rehabilitation, local improvement initiatives, watermain renewal, sewer separation programs, replacing aging vehicles and equipment, and parkland acquisition, according to the report.
"Council's pay as you go strategy has provided the city with long-term sustainable funding for capital infrastructure replacement and capital expansion," the report states. "Sufficient reserves afford council the ongoing ability to maintain taxation stability. The practice strengthens the city's financial position and has kept the city debt free for over a decade."
From 2011, Burnaby's net cash flow increased by $10.8 million.
"The city's cash liquidity is strong with cash and investments totalling $610 million," the report states.
Outstanding contracts for capital and other expenditures are estimated at $36.6 million, which are not accrued in the financial statements.
"The city is currently involved in various legal actions," the report states. "The outcome of these actions cannot be determined at this time. A provision has been made in the accounts for any possible unfavourable outcome of these actions."
If there is a loss that exceeds the provisions in place or insurance coverage, it will be "recorded when determinable."
For example, the RCMP members and the federal government have been in legal proceedings regarding pay raises, which were retracted from the members, since 2009 and 2010, according to the report.
"As the final outcome of the legal action and the potential financial impact to the city is not determinable, the city has not recorded any provision for this matter in the financial statements as of (the end of 2012)," states the report.
The audited report included the municipal pension plan. The plan has about 176,000 active members and approximately 67,000 retired members. The active members include about 35,000 contributors from local governments.
Burnaby paid $11 million for employer contributions last year, while employees put in $9.3 million to the plan.
The audit was done by a group of chartered accountants from the international accounting firm KPMG.
"Good job for this year," Mayor Derek Corrigan said. "(I) hope 2013 is just as good."
With the year-end audit completed and the surplus confirmed, next on council's list is the 2013 annual financial plan review.
To read the full 2012 annual financial report, visit www.burnaby.ca.
