Portage la Prairie City Council has taken a look at their audited 2015 financial statements, including the consolidated statements which include all entities the city's involved with. The financial statements were presented at Monday's council meeting, showing a surplus of almost $7.5 million, when all assets and connected entities were factored in. Finance Chair Brent Budz says it's a large amount, but they don't necessarily just have that money to spare.

"It's a consolidated surplus between all the entities that Portage has oversight over or is working in conjunction with our other parties. It is a considerable amount of money when you look at it that way. A lot of those are reserve funds that are set up for particular purposes. Yes, it is a large dollar amount, but it's allocated funding."

While many municipalities faced some challenges associated with New Public Sector Accounting Board regulations, Budz says they didn't encounter any surprises with the audited statements. He says other than a few changes for documentation aspects that had to be made, they were pleased with the financial statements.

"I think it's just another successful year for the city in the sense that we set forth a budget and we stuck to the budget. It's not always easy, as I've said before, there are large demands on our dollars. It's gratifying to see that the financial statement mirrors that of what our internal controls are. Having said that, those are last year's numbers and we're already in August. The work never stops, but it's just a reaffirmation of the numbers internally, and that's always positive."

When it comes to the city's debt management, they managed to pay down about $2 million of the long-term debt, which is now sitting at about just over $13.5 million. The financial statements indicate the city will make almost in $8 million in principal payments over the next five years.

For more information:
2015 Audited Financial Statement Results
Consolidated Financial Statements