Higher-than-expected building permit revenues have helped boost this year's expected surplus at the City of Richmond to more than $3 million.
The city's planning and development department is forecasting a variance of $355,000 by the end of the year, thanks also to lower-than-budgeted operating costs.
However, the surplus is mainly due to the fact certain expenses the city expected didn't materialize, according to Lisa Skippen, the city's finance system support manager,
The predictions of $3.267 million in leftover tax dollars are similar to last year when almost $2.5 million was given back by various departments.
The highest individual surpluses are expected to come, as usual, from the RCMP and Richmond Fire Rescue, where $639,000 and $650,000 respectively are forecast.
However, there may be retroactive pay issues at the RCMP that need to be dealt with.
