The City of Prince George’s investments through the Municipal Finance Authority earned almost $6.5 million in 2024 while interest earned on its general bank account earned almost $7 million, the Standing Committee on Finance and Audit heard at its Wednesday, June 25 meeting.
Reporting on the city’s 2024 investment results was director of finance and IT services Kris Dalio.
He said Prince George’s portfolio is mostly invested with the MFA because of the city’s sustainable finance policies, which states “Staff primarily purchases Municipal Finance Authority investments due to their competitive rates and lower administrative costs.”
“We have to invest in very protected, principle-protected investments,” Dalio told the committee. “We can’t just go to a very risky investment … we can’t bet it all on black and hopefully it goes in our favour. So, we have to do pretty conservative investments, but we do what we can within those constraints to try and maximize the returns.”
The MFA is co-owned by local governments across BC to provide low-cost borrowing and investment options.
During an interview with The Citizen earlier in June, Dalio said that while the city could borrow money from other sources, it’s unlikely that it would be able to find better rates.
Investing with the MFA takes work off the hands of city staff, he said, adding that if money is made on the city’s investments, it can get some forgiveness for its debts.
The exact return for the city’s investments with the MFA in 2024 was $6,457,972, representing an average monthly rate of return of 4.67 per cent.
While that’s a lower monthly average rate of return than the 4.82 per cent in 2023, it’s higher than the $6,360,336 return on investment earned that year.
At the end of 2024, the city had $144,498,420 in its various funds with the MFA.
Though high interest rates mean the city incurs more borrowing costs, Dalio said they also benefit the city’s investments.
Separate from its investments was the amount of interest the city earned on its general bank account, which totalled $6,978,650 in 2025. That’s almost $1 million more than the $6,058,341 in interest earned in 2023.
With around $5 million in interest paid on the city’s debts in 2025 versus the combined $13.3 million earned in investments plus bank interest, Dalio said Prince George is doing well in the balance.
