The city finished 2015 nearly $200,000 in the black.
The $200,000 net positive variance comes in spite of a projected $1.7 million shortfall for 2015, initially reported in last year's third quarter variance report.
"The favourable variance for tax supported for the year was $1 million," said Dawn Paris, the City of Thunder Bay’s acting director of finance told council on Monday evening.
"That would have been offset by an unfavourable variance for rate-supported operations of $800,000.”
The information came as part of an update on city's financial statements and reserve funds, not a detailed variance report. Some councillors wanted clarification from staff on the large disparity between the projected and actual variance.
At Large Coun. Rebecca Johnson specifically wanted to understand how a positive variance took the place of the $2 million unfavourable variance projected at budget time.
"We received another, just in supplementary taxes alone, an additional $1.3 million," Paris said.
City treasurer Rob Colquhoun further explained Tuesday afternoon that the city bills “based on an assessment rule received from [the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation] in January of each year.”
He added that that throughout the year, MPAC supplements the January assessment with properties that finish construction throughout the year, and properties assessors may have missed.
"We had talked to MPAC, and we had concerns about the unfavourable variance, so MPAC made an extra effort to go out and pick up properties that would have been picked up this year," Colquhoun said.
"It's positive news, how things ended up. We're happy about that.”
However, Colquhoun said the properties that came onto the rolls last year would effect this year's budget.
“So that will create some challenges this year.”
