Common Councillor Susan Fullerton has said the city is flat broke but that's a misperception according to Finance Commissioner Greg Yeomans. He says the city has more than enough assets to meet all of its financial obligations and it's debt ratio is well below what the provincial government considers precarious.
Nevertheless, Fullerton says the city should be looking for small efficiencies wherever they can be found because they all add up.
Yeomans does concede Saint John, like every other city, has an infrastructure deficit on such things as streets, water and sewage but points out has to maintain twice as much road as anyone else. He also complains the city is not getting as high a share of the tax pie as it should.
Common Council has been told by Yeomans had Saint John hosted the Memorial Cup at Harbour Station, the city would have had to pay as much as half a million dollars on chillers so ice could be made in May.
