The City of Saskatoon says it may post a $3.1 million deficit for 2017, and it's blaming slumping revenues from parking tickets, traffic violations and the city dump.

Put another way, people wary of getting fined are being more law-abiding while commercial haulers are trucking their garbage past the city landfill to other sites. Those trends are indirectly costing the city some potential cash.

"Landfill revenue experienced a $1.28 million shortfall in 2017," according to a report going to the city council finance committee on Monday.

Parking tickets, Saskatoon Transit, traffic violations (like speeding) and the city's golf courses also fell short of projections by $1.7 million, $1 million, $871,000 and $296,000, respectively.

The trickle of coin into the city's non-tax piggy banks was flagged by the city last November during 2018 budget time and comes despite Saskatoon's growing population.

The $3.1 million deficit figure will be revised this spring, however, and the final shortfall will ultimately be covered by a stabilization reserve that's currently sitting at $8.1 million.

The city hopes its move toward garbage as a utility may reverse the trend of slumping landfill revenues, though how exactly residents will be billed for waste under that new system remains to be ironed out.