Don’t Be Fooled by the Rainy-Day Rosie Rhetoric — Follow the Money

Let’s be clear: it’s good news the City of Winnipeg is finally putting money back into the rainy day fund. But let’s not kid ourselves—this is the bare minimum. They’re not doing something extraordinary; they’re trying to recover from the damage they caused. And we need to ask: why has it taken this long to meet a basic legal requirement?

According to city policy, the Financial Stabilization Reserve—the so-called rainy day fund—is supposed to maintain a minimum balance equal to 6% of the City’s tax-supported operating expenditures. For 2025, that means about $85 million. But even with this new plan, we’re still only looking at a projected $36.4 million by the end of next year. That’s not meeting the requirement. That’s still failing the test.

The problem isn’t that council isn’t aware of the target. The problem is they’ve gotten comfortable with cutting corners.

For years now, they’ve dipped into this fund not because of emergencies, but because they can’t manage their own spending. It’s a loophole around the fact that municipalities, by law, are not allowed to run a deficit. But what’s happened here is a shadow deficit—a workaround using the reserve fund to make up for overspending. This didn’t start during the pandemic. The pattern goes back to when Mayor Gillingham was finance chair. It’s the same habit, just a new title.

Let’s also talk about what you’ve had to swallow while they try to spin this as progress. A nearly 6% property tax increase—the biggest in years. A brand-new flat waste fee. A sharp jump in water and sewer charges. They’re pulling more from your wallet than ever before. And while they collect record revenues from these basic services, they continue to siphon tens of millions in so-called “profits” from the Water and Waste department. Think about that. They hike your rates, then skim the top for general revenue. That’s not responsible governance. That’s treating essential utilities like a cash machine.

Now we’re told the reserve fund is bouncing back. Sure, it’s bouncing—off the floor. After being drained down to $2.1 million in 2022, we’re just now crawling back toward $36 million. The spin is predictable. They’re patting themselves on the back for plugging a hole they created. But no one’s asking the bigger question: why are we still so far off the legal requirement? Why didn’t they prioritize rebuilding it before jacking up your taxes?

Because they never stopped spending.

While residents are told to tighten their belts, there’s no serious effort at City Hall to do the same. Councillors are still heading off to conferences and convention-style meetings. These aren’t trade missions bringing investment to Winnipeg—they’re networking events and ribbon-cuttings that offer zero value to taxpayers. And the administrative layers at City Hall? Still bloated.

There’s talk now of launching a zero-based budgeting process. That’s long overdue. Zero-based budgeting means every dollar has to be justified from scratch—not just carried over from the previous year. It’s what real fiscal responsibility looks like. If council is serious about this, they should start today. But don’t expect it to happen unless residents demand it. Because up until now, the pattern is clear: avoid tough cuts, raise fees, and dip into reserves whenever the math doesn’t work.

This is a shell game.

They want you focused on the small win—“Look, we’re rebuilding the rainy day fund!”—while ignoring the bigger issue: reckless, undisciplined spending. The fund was never meant to be a piggy bank for poor planning. It was designed to help stabilize operations in the face of real emergencies—floods, blizzards, or revenue shortfalls beyond anyone’s control. But when the city uses it to cover structural gaps year after year, it stops being a safety net and becomes a crutch.

So what happens when the next major snowstorm hits? What if we burn through the snow-clearing budget in January? What if inflation spikes again or a key infrastructure project falls apart? The reserve could evaporate overnight—again.

And then what?

More rate hikes. More taxes. More excuses.

That’s why this matters.

City finances aren’t abstract—they affect what gets cleared, what gets fixed, and what gets built. And if we continue managing our budget like a short-term balancing act, we’ll keep lurching from crisis to crisis.

There’s a better way. It starts with a zero-based budget review.

Unlike the typical process where last year’s budget becomes the baseline—often with automatic increases—a zero-based approach forces departments to justify every dollar from the ground up. It asks: What do we actually need? What services deliver value? What can we do more efficiently?

Other cities have seen results. In Phoenix, zero-based budgeting helped close multi-million-dollar gaps without cutting frontline services. In Dallas, the city found savings by consolidating duplicate administrative roles and eliminating underused programs. Calgary has used a modified zero-based approach to reallocate spending toward higher priorities, without raising taxes.

It’s not magic. It’s discipline. And it requires elected officials to lead, not just manage.

But it’s also where citizens come in.

Paying attention to how public money is spent isn’t about ideology—it’s about outcomes. When we accept vague promises and small gestures as good enough, we lower the bar. When we hold our governments to account—not just for what they say, but what they actually deliver—we raise it.

Yes, putting money back into the rainy day fund is a start. But it’s not the solution. The real work is cutting unnecessary spending, fixing the budget process, and getting serious about living within our means. That’s what will keep your taxes from rising, your services from slipping, and your city from falling behind.

Let’s stop settling for short-term fixes. Let’s start asking for long-term responsibility.