MOOSE JAW — The City of Moose Jaw’s investment portfolios gained more than $3.7 million during this year’s second quarter, which was three times more than what the portfolios generated last quarter.
During city council’s recent regular meeting, the investment committee presented a report with the second-quarter results. Council then voted unanimously to receive and file the document.
The report showed that, as of June 30, there was $9,744,172.19 in the short-term portfolio, $16,626,981 in the moderate-term portfolio and $83,392,513.59 in the long-term portfolio, for a total of $109,763,666.78.
Short-term portfolio
Q2 was the second time that the investment committee reported on the short-term portfolio since the account was introduced earlier this year, so the year-to-date percentage return was unavailable, the report said.
However, the data showed that account manager RBC Dominion Securities invested $8,389,282.57 during the second quarter, raising the portfolio to $9,699,493.35. This amount generated a return of 0.81 per cent or $42,336.80 during Q2 and increased the portfolio to $9,744,172.19.
City hall said in an email that the portfolio increased from roughly $1.3 million in Q1 to over $8.3 million in Q2 because the investment managers have started to transition $13.6 million from the moderate-term portfolio to the short-term portfolio in preparation for a new landfill.
Moderate-term portfolio
From April 1 to June 30, the moderate-term portfolio grew by 2.51 per cent and generated $518,961.99. This amount increased the portfolio to $25,016,280 from $24,497,318.01, but because the city withdrew money during the first two quarters to fund capital projects, that reduced the portfolio to $16,626,969.04.
Since its inception in July 2019, this portfolio has generated $8,727,183.71, while the city has withdrawn $21,287,226.40 to fund capital projects.
Long-term portfolio
From April 1 to June 30, the long-term portfolio grew by 3.97 per cent and generated $3,187,490.54, which increased the portfolio to $83,392,513.59 from $80,205,023.05. The city has also withdrawn $4.9 million during the first two quarters to fund capital projects, although the investment returns have kept the portfolio where it is now.
Since its inception in July 2019, this portfolio has generated $33,201,494.26, while the city has withdrawn $20,019,722.35 to fund capital projects.
Combined, all three portfolios in the second quarter gained $3,748,789.33. In comparison, the three portfolios gained $908,828.11 during Q1; the difference between the first and second quarters was a gain of $2,839,961.22 or an increase of 312 per cent.
It should be noted that RBC Dominion Securities has changed the way it reports how much interest each portfolio generated in the quarter. Before this year, the company listed the interest generated each quarter for the moderate- and long-term portfolios. However, this year, it has been listing the total returns as year-to-date, which makes determining total investment returns and portfolio values difficult.
MooseJawToday.com was forced to ask city hall for the second-quarter investment earnings, which it provided by email.
Property taxes receivable
MooseJawToday.com reported in a previous article the values of tax arrears and property taxes receivable by the end of Q2 over several years. By June 30, 2023, the property taxes receivable were minus $24.6 million.
City hall explained by email that in that year, the municipality faced delays in sending out property tax bills because of technical problems with a new tax system. Since the city did not apply charges until July, some account balances appeared negative.
The email added that due to the adjustments of the new software, the city passed an updated bylaw that extended the property tax payment deadline to Aug. 31 of that year.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Sept. 8.
