If all goes well to the end of the year, the RM of Portage la Prairie will be sitting pretty with a good financial surplus on hand. Deputy Reeve Roy Tufford says the recent work done on Davey's bridge not only was below anticipated budget but also applauded by ratepayers.

Roy Tufford"I was just there yesterday with a ratepayer. We were going to look at some drainage, and he commented on how well the crossing looked, and how he doesn't have to worry about going over with loaded trucks any more. He said it looks really good. And we're happy with the job that was done. It's a win-win."

CAO Nettie Neudorf says the RM received favourable pricing on the project.

"We didn't have the pricing for the labour that was required for it at the time. And we were pleased to get good pricing on that in the end that's favourable to our bottom line. So, our forecast was even better. As long as there aren't any surprises til the end of the year we should be in the positive. We look at the changes from budget to what the items will be heading toward at the end of the year. Right now the forecast is a surplus starting at $436,000. Since our budget was relying on transfers from another nominal surplus (which is a surplus of funds on hand from previous years), we cancelled both nominal surplus transfers, and we would in the end have an adjusted forecast of $136,424 for the RM."

She says the $300,000 they don't require any longer is due to $100,000 that was formerly planned for gravel crushing, $100,000 for a project for the public works garage, and $100,000 for the machinery reserve fund to all come from the surplus from previous years.

"We can cancel that transfer from that nominal surplus because there are sufficient funds elsewhere. We'll end up with a forecast surplus of $136,000 if everything goes according to plan."

Basically, the RM had budgeted some funds to come from the nominal surplus to balance their budget this year. There are now sufficient funds since they don't need to draw from prior years' surplus.

CAO Nettie Neudorf says the RM received favourable pricing on the project.

Nettie Neudorf"We didn't have the pricing for the labour that was required for it at the time. And we were pleased to get good pricing on that in the end that's favourable to our bottom line. So, our forecast was even better. As long as there aren't any surprises til the end of the year we should be in the positive. Prior to any cancellations of funds from other resources, the surplus for this year is anticipated to be around $436,000. A large portion of that is from the added taxes revenue that was reported earlier this year due to the commercial development -- the assessment that came through for that -- and the additional tax revenue that that provided. The nominal surplus was anticipated to be a 'drawn-from' earlier on when the budget was set for this year. And we won't need to access that. That's $300,000 that was planned for this year. If we eliminate that transfer from nominal surplus, then we'll be sitting at a positive result of $136,000. So, we'll see what the rest of the year looks like."