The calendar has turned and city council has started acknowledging the city’s 2015 spending in the form of three bylaws.

Council passed the first two readings each of the umbrella grant bylaw, an umbrella bylaw dealing with capital spending last year and an umbrella bylaw dealing with operating spending last year.

While the spending was approved with council voting on individual budget changes and grants over the course of the year, the umbrella bylaws are required after year’s end to sum up grants provided and changes made to the budget.

As it was noted in a summary report to council Monday evening: “The Municipal Act provides that council may by bylaw establish a procedure to authorize expenditures that vary from the annual capital expenditure program and operating budget.

“In accordance with the provisions of the budget bylaws, a number of properly authorized budget amendments occurred throughout 2015, including the re-budgeting of capital funds to allow for projects that could not be completed in the year for which funds were initially budgeted.”

Capital budget amendments approved over the course of the year saw an additional $6.3 million spent in 2015 over the initial $31 million that had been approved for spending, though the majority of that was projects carried over from 2014.

Meanwhile, on the operating side, the city both earned and spent an extra $686,149, bringing up the total operating budget to more than $70.3 million.

The changes came in a variety of areas ranging from staffing changes to increases to the diversion credit system to revenue coming in from city fees.

Meanwhile, the city’s umbrella grant bylaw – which totals all the grant funding and services given to community over the course of the year – shows the city provided $379,559 worth of funding and services over 2015.

That came in the form of environmental, arts and culture, facility and parks, recreation, festival, heritage grants as well as a number of miscellaneous programs and events such as the Food For Fines program.

Under that venture, for a week each December, motorists donate their parking meter fines in the form of cash or food to the Whitehorse Food Bank and the Kaushee’s Place women’s shelter.

Before voting to move ahead with the umbrella bylaw on the grants Monday night, Coun. Rob Fendrick was quick to praise the work of the local groups which have received funds for the services provided to the community.

“The city does appreciate the service, and we’re happy to provide this funding,” he said.

Third reading on each of the umbrella bylaws will come forward later this month.