Halton Region, the regional government that runs paramedic services for Burlington and its neighbours, expects its investments to earn $102.9 million this year. That is $32.9 million more than the $70 million it budgeted, and the extra will help pay for a new Paramedic Services Headquarters, putting off borrowing for it.
By Aug. 31, the Region's investments had already brought in $72.2 million, an average return of 3.54% on a $3.063 billion portfolio, according to a report to regional council from Cyndy Winslow, the Region's finance commissioner and treasurer.
Council already approved sending the surplus to the headquarters project through an earlier report on investments up to March 31. The budgeted investment income pays for $42.9 million of state-of-good-repair work, the spending that keeps the Region's existing infrastructure in working order.
Interest earned by the end of August has risen every year since 2023, from $55.770 million to $69.274 million. The fund's edge over its benchmark has narrowed, though: it beat the comparison by 0.19 percentage points this period, against 0.58 and 0.71 points in the two years before.
The report is on the agenda for Halton Regional Council's meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Burlington holds 7 of the council's 24 seats.
