The city of Montreal is projecting a $62.8 million surplus for 2016, but it isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
In its updated budget projections, the city said most of the extra money will come from reduced spending. More than $30 million of the savings comes from reduction in the cost of municipal services. About $17 million is expected to be saved on professional and technical services, while an additional $11 million will come from paying less for snow removal, general maintenance and repairs and fuel and energy.
Some of the money will come from increased revenue, with about $9 million coming from increased property taxes.
While there are plenty of positives from the latest budget update, there were plenty of negatives.
Those extra expenses and reduced revenue sources centered on the Montreal police department.
Once again fewer tickets have been handed out by police officers and parking enforcement agents, forcing the city to scale back its expected income from Montrealer infractions by $19 million.
Firefighters have also brought in less money than the city thought, which will mean a drop of about $2.3 million in fines handed out during inspections or for false alarms.
On top of the lost revenue, the SPVM is now pegged to cost taxpayers an additional $12.4 million in overtime payments, with more than 90% of those costs coming from officers directing traffic at the many work sites scattered across the island.
Montreal ended the 2015 fiscal year with a $145.8-million surplus.