City of Blaine anticipates using nearly $1 million in reserves for 2023 budget

The city of Blaine is budgeting for nearly a $1 million deficit, raising concerns about potential cuts if the budget is not balanced by next year.

Blaine City Council approved the 2023 budget late last November to have an anticipated $950,000 deficit in its general fund.

Inflation has required city staff salaries and wages to increase but the city’s revenue has not kept up pace, partially because of the U.S./Canada border closure, which has caused the budget to become unbalanced. The city doesn’t have the Covid-19 stimulus that helped it from dipping into its reserves previously.

The city will pay for the anticipated $1 million deficit out of its nearly $4 million reserve, city finance director Daniel Heverling said. If the city continued at this pace, it would deplete all of its reserves by about 2026, he said.

“I’m projecting for the next several years we’re going to be upside down for expenses outpacing revenues unless we find some source to bring in more revenues,” Heverling said.

The biggest increase in expenses for the city are salaries and wages, which make up over 60 percent of the general fund, Heverling said.

“We’re in a really tough scenario because inflation has gone up a lot, it’s like

(See Budget, page 3)