REAL leadership says the municipal entertainment district's struggling finances are improving and is asking city council for approval to shuffle money around in its 2025 budget.
President and CEO Rick Bennett and new chief financial officer Jordan Sleightholm spoke to executive committee during its meeting Wednesday.
They asked for approval to move a little more than $1 million: $850,000 from REAL's debt-funding budget to operational spending, and $199,000 from the 2024 capital budget to 2025 for facility maintenance.
Reallocating these dollars would keep REAL within the approved 2025 budget. It would not require any new funding from the city and would cover spending needs previously identified for this year.
"Definitely we see this as a positive financial improvement," said Bennett. "Any time we're not incurring additional expenses, that's a financial gain."
REAL doesn't expect to need the money from its debt-funding budget due to lower-than-expected interest rates and cash flow rearranging, and the capital money went unspent last year due to project delays, Sleightholm explained.
It wants to finish those 2024 projects this year, which include replacing HVAC equipment, security cameras, digital signage and more, without pulling from the work planned as part of the 2025 budget.
Based on current projections from a financial report done in August, Bennett said REAL hopes to see "further improvements" to its bottom line by the end of the year.
"This is trending in a positive direction and one step of many we believe are yet to come," he said.
REAL's primary function is to book events and manage the city-owned facilities at REAL District, including Mosaic Stadium, the Brandt Centre, Bunge International Trade Centre, Co-operators Centre and others.
Its finances have been under close scrutiny since 2023, when a review highlighted four consecutive years of operating deficits. Since then, the city has granted more than $15 million in top-ups to keep REAL afloat.
The organization has been providing monthly financial reports to the city since February at the direction of council, as part of a strategy to improve financial stability. A review about possibly restructuring or dissolving REAL, announced in February, is still underway, to return to city council by summer 2026.
City council will vote on whether to approve the $1-million reallocation at its next meeting on Oct. 8.