What you need to know about the 2018 City of St. John’s budget

1. No tax increases, mill rate remains at 7.3 for residential, 24.7 for commercial.

2. The city is exploring a municipal auditor general, an idea the mayor says was heard during the campaign. A panel will be established to determine the way that will be pursued. Council may pursue a bylaw, if they decide it is needed.

3. No changes to arts grants and funding provided by the city.

4. Business vacancy allowance will remain in place in 2018, despite previous plans to eliminate it.

5. $1-million drop in expected fines revenue to the city. Previously, the city overestimated how much it would make from traffic violations and adjusts in this budget.

6. A $13-million surplus identified in a program review last year will be split: $5.85 million to a pension payment, the rest into a contingency fund for the city. That translates to about $500,000 in savings on interest payment on the pension fund.

7. The city has reduced capital spending by $5.1 million in 2018, though that was the plan set out in the beginning of the three-year budget cycle.

8. The city will increase pool and fitness programs at the Paul Reynolds Centre by around $380,000, bringing total annual expenditure on the Paul Reynolds Centre to $1.9 million.

9. An additional $180,000 will go to the St. John’s Sports and Entertainment subsidy, bringing the total annual operating grant for Mile One Centre and the St. John’s Convention Centre to $2.67 million annually.

10. The city anticipates an additional $300,000 to be made from interest on city bank accounts, a 1,166 per cent increase over last year. The increase is attributed to the city having more cash on hand, meaning more interest accrued.

11. The Railway Coastal Museum will see an 83 per cent reduction in its subsidy. City staff say new rental and commercial operations in the building will offset the subsidy decrease.