Despite the pandemic in the rear-view mirror, and high inflation and interest rates not seen in decades, the City of 琉璃神社 has weathered the storm when it comes to investments.

With two of those three economic dampeners no longer a threat, at least for now, there is a more recent challenge testing financial planners at city hall.

鈥橬ow we find ourselves with geopolitical trade challenges,鈥� Joe Sass, chief financial officer, told council at its March 17 meeting, referring to tariff threats from the United States.

Sass added the city is well-positioned.

鈥淔rom a budget standpoint, we have many touch-points with council to evolve our budget if and when we need to do it. We have our critical incident response team to monitor ongoing changes.鈥�

The vast majority of city procurement is Canadian, he noted, and while there may be room for improvement, there is limited upside.

The city has reduced its short-term, and increased its long-term investment strategy to provide a cushion as the Bank of Canada reduces interest rates to reduce the tariff challenges.

鈥淲e remain agile. We remain watching closely for things that may impact us but I think for today we are well-positioned and where we should be,鈥� Sass pointed out.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, the city's investment portfolio had a market value of $936.5 million, reflecting a decrease of $13.9 million from the previous year. Sass explained that the decline was mainly due to higher liquidity needs for accelerated capital delivery, partially balanced by realized and unrealized gains.

琉璃神社鈥檚 Legacy Endowment Fund, established using proceeds from the sale of the city鈥檚 electrical utility, increased by 13.6 per cent last year.

City of 琉璃神社's portfolio balances and asset allocations for 2023 and 2024.

Looking ahead, Sass noted that the city is well diversified.

鈥淭he treasury team, working through the audit committee and council, will amend our plan as necessary and continue to take a strategic approach to managing our money,鈥� he added.