The City of Yorkton presented its audited financial report to council during the August 11 meeting, offering a comprehensive look at the municipality’s financial health and priorities.
The report revealed a consolidated surplus of nearly $12,996,333 for 2024, a figure that includes capital grants and contributions. While the city budgets based on cash flow, this surplus represents funds that can be directed towards capital projects and reserve transfers, helping to support the city’s ongoing infrastructure and service needs.
Yorkton Mayor Aaron Kienle said he is pleased with the city’s overall financial position.
“We’re in great financial shape,” he said. “I think one of the highlights is the $3.4 million that we find in our rainy day fund, that we’re starting to talk about how we can best invest that and use that money for future initiatives or projects. I believe our Director of Finance said that we’re at our lowest level of debt in years, so I think that’s also a big positive.”
Debt remains well below provincial limits.
Yorkton’s long-term debt remains low, with only about $2.3 million owed on external loans related to the fire hall and Dracup infrastructure projects.
This is well below the Sask. The Municipal Board’s debt limit is $42 million, leaving the city with significant borrowing capacity.
However, new debt taken on in 2025 for the York Road reconstruction project, totalling $11.36 million, reduces the city’s available debt limit to approximately $28.3 million.
Kienle said that reducing reliance on debt is a priority for the city.
“Looking at a person or a business, anytime that you can reduce your reliance on debt is important,” he said. “Recently was looking at debt limits with other cities in our province and we have a rather low debt limit. That’s not because that’s all we can get. It’s because we haven’t relied on it and we haven’t asked for an increase. I think seeing that debt limit being significantly, maybe lower than the average, is a positive thing, and we’re spending less money on interest and those types of things.”
Operating surplus stable, reserves healthy.
The city’s operating surplus of about $1.6 million in 2024 was previously reported in June and remains unchanged. This surplus supports departmental transfers and helps fund priorities without increasing tax burdens.
Reserve balances show approximately $25.6 million set aside across various categories. In total, the report shows $28.3 million in projects planned for 2025/2026 with significant funds are earmarked for water and sewer infrastructure ($9.8 million), transportation projects including roads and fleet purchases ($2.4 million), environmental health initiatives such as landfill management ($4.6 million), and recreation and parks upgrades ($5 million).
Kienle said seeing the reserves grow allows the city to fund infrastructure projects.
“I think as a resident of the City of Yorkton, you see those reserves and you want to see them invest in a recreation facility or different amenities like that. Doing the work of council or being part of administration, you certainly see the gap when it comes to infrastructure needs and that gap is that we have to put more money towards infrastructure and that we’re kind of behind the eight ball here because of all the years that Saskatchewan communities didn’t put money towards infrastructure,” he said. “It’s not going to be something I think that we ever quit doing is putting more and more money towards infrastructure. It’s not super sexy, but it’s very necessary.”
Kienle noted that due to the rise in construction costs for projects, the reserves become even more critical.
“We’re looking at some projects in the past that we can draw from. There’s the water treatment facility, there’s the civic operations centre; these buildings were very large in their day, and now we look at having to build those now, they would be many tens of millions of dollars more,” he said. “We’re looking towards needing a wastewater treatment facility. It will surely be probably the biggest project and investment the City of Yorkton has ever had and we’re going to be partnering with our provincial and federal government to make that happen.”
The rainy day fund — a reserve designed to buffer unforeseen financial challenges — grew substantially in 2024 to $3.4 million, thanks to the operating surplus.
This fund provides the city with a safety net and flexibility to respond to future needs.
Kienle said the fund isn’t enough, but it is growing, which is a good start for the city.
“Being an organization with a $60 million budget, $3 million is probably not enough. If you just took away a bunch of zeros and thought about your household, it probably isn’t enough. Very happy it’s there, it wasn’t that much when I was on council previously, so it’s growing. If we can invest that money properly, there’s plenty of opportunity to see that grow. In the last two years, the reason that fund has grown has been because of high interest rates and the amount of money we’ve left in there. Continuing that and being cognizant of the right project or the right situation to use it will be important.”
Financial ratios show positive trends with some caution.
The report includes key financial indicators to help understand Yorkton’s fiscal sustainability and flexibility.
One positive trend is a decrease in the net debt to total annual revenue ratio, which dropped from 0.058 in 2023 to 0.035 in 2024. This decline indicates reduced debt levels relative to revenue, allowing the city to manage its financial obligations better and position itself for future capital investment.
The ratio of own-source revenue to taxable assessment increased slightly from 0.032 to 0.035, suggesting a growing reliance on taxpayer funding. This could reflect property value appreciation and economic growth, but also means residents are providing a greater share of city revenues.
However, the ratio measuring the net book value of capital assets to the cost of capital assets decreased slightly from 0.595 to 0.590. This signals that asset values are not being replenished as quickly as they are depreciating, highlighting a widening infrastructure gap and the ongoing need for investment.
The city’s reliance on government transfers declined marginally, with those funds comprising 13.4 per cent of total revenue in 2024, down from 13.8 per cent the year before.
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