The City of Toronto has found an extra $275 million in its pocket that it will put toward its 2011 budget shortfall.
City manager Joseph Pennachetti recently informed Mayor David Miller that the city estimates it will have a $200 million surplus from its 2010 budget.
Combined with an estimated $75-million surplus from the 2009 budget, that gives the city $275 million to put towards its 2011 budget.
In a memo to the outgoing mayor, Pennachetti said the $275 million will "significantly reduce" the $500 million shortfall the city is facing for next year's budget.
Mayor Miller announced the news in his Twitter feed on Thursday.
"Surplus from 2009/2010 that can be used for 2011 budget will be about $275 Million: prudent management, cost restraint protect services," Miller said on Twitter.
Stuart Green, a spokesperson for Miller, told CTV Toronto that the savings are the result of a combination of factors, including general belt-tightening in all city departments.
"Every department, every little bit, that can add up," Green said in a phone interview on Friday morning.
But Green said the specifics of the surplus won't be known until the year-end variances are completed in early 2011.
