JOSHUA ALLAN
The 1510 West

The City of Beaconsfield ended 2024 with a $3.2-million budget surplus, according to the annual audited financial report presented at the city council meeting last week. This is the largest budget surplus the city has seen in four years.

According to the numbers read aloud to the council by Mayor Georges Bourelle on June 16, Beaconsfield posted a total of $57,878,804 in expenses last year, while generating $61,128,078 in revenues. The resulting surplus comes in at $3,249,274 in total.

“Part of this surplus may be due to higher-than-expected revenues,” Bourelle said. “These include real estate transfer taxes, subsidies from various governments and interest income.”

The financial report provides numbers on these revenues. A total of $5.2 million more than expected was generated in transfer taxes last year, while $2.5 million more than budgeted was generated in fees for municipal services. Another $465,000 more than budgeted was earned in interest.

The 2024 budget surplus is the highest annual surplus since 2020, when extra revenues totalled just over $5 million.

Increased long-term debt

The report indicates a slight increase in the city’s long-term debt, which was pegged at $21 million, an increase of $2 million compared with 2023. This comes after the long-term debt had steadily decreased each year since 2021 but remains lower than the 2020 long-term debt total of $22.4 million.

Of this debt, a total of $7.2 million, or 33.3 per cent, will be reimbursed to the City of Beaconsfield from the Quebec government.