In the year of the flood, the City of Calgary wound up with a modest $8.2-million operating budget surplus because of higher transit revenues, property tax revenue and other minor windfalls, officials told a council committee Tuesday.

The summer’s flood response took a serious bite out of 2013 city coffers — $31.8 million, not counting infrastructure repairs — as did extra expenses to repair city pavement after frost heaves, something that could be severe again after this winter.

Calgary officials have applied for reimbursements through provincial recovery programs. But even before that, the city wound up in the black at the end of 2013, with a bit of money left over for the fiscal stability reserve.

Here’s what contributed to the surplus, which is smaller than in past years:

Transit: the city’s buses and CTrains handled 107.5 million trips, nine million more than expected. That delivered $7.1 million more than expected in fares to Calgary Transit, even though the system was shut down for a few disaster days in late June.

Power rates: when electricity or natural gas rates rise, the city collects more from “franchise fees” — the rent Calgary charges utilities for the power lines and gas pipes that pass through its property, and which the utilities pass on to customers on their bills. The extra city income this year is $19.7 million.

Another good year of profits at city-owned Enmax delivered more than budgeted to the city’s dividend, which is evenly split between the Legacy Parks Fund and reserves.

Property tax revenues were $10.1 million higher than anticipated. This often shifts from budget predictions because of the city winning or losing when large office buildings and other developments demand reviews to potentially lower their tax assessments. Because Alberta cities are banned from running deficits, Calgary sets conservative estimates of how much it will gain or lose through this process.

jmarkusoff@calgaryherald.com