Canada/The Town of Amos uses surpluses to tackle its debt

The Town of Amos ended fiscal 2024 with a surplus of $2 million, enabling it to invest more in debt reduction.

The figures announced on Monday evening show revenues of $52 million in 2024, 4% higher than estimated. According to Mayor Sébastien D'Astous, this positive variance can be explained in part by the strength of the local economy.

It's a surplus that's fairly standard in Quebec," he points out. It's always more difficult to forecast revenues than expenses. We generated more revenue from permits and transfer duties. It's been a good financial year, and I'm very comfortable with the figures we're presenting.

For the first time in 16 years, the Town of Amos has chosen to immediately allocate part of this surplus - $1 million - to debt repayment, which stood at $53 million on December 31, 2024.

We could have used this money for this or that new project, or left it in a reserve," explains the mayor. But because we're in an election year, we thought it wiser to put some towards the debt, to leave the city in even better financial health. The next elected representatives will be able to decide, with more room for manoeuvre, what to do over the next four years.

Amos' debt-to-income ratio now stands at 102%, which is below the 120% ceiling set by the city in its performance indicators.

In 2021, after the major work on 1st Avenue, we were approaching our financial borrowing limit, and we wanted to bring everything back to normal," explains Mayor D'Astous. Today, we're in better shape and below our targets, and things will get even better with this $1 million addition to debt repayment.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/