'I'd rather wait and get all the facts straight and recorded 'properly;.'

For the fourth straight year, the City of Iqaluit's budget will be late.

Council passed a motion Tuesday night authorizing a delay of the final budget, technically due Dec. 31, until the end of January.

"I'd rather wait and get all the facts straight and recorded properly," John Hussey, the city's chief administrative officer, told councillors.

Department budgets are finished and a final list of the city's capital projects for the coming year is due next week.

According to Hussey, the delay is due to uncertainty over the city's new five-year capital plan with the Government of Nunavut. The GN is willing to contribute $2.4 million a year for city projects, but isn't being clear about whether Iqaluit will have to chip in its own money.

Hussey said the Department of Community and Government Services is "implying" the city will have to contribute 20 per cent of project costs under the plan, which would amount to $400,000 a year.

If the city doesn't budget for that, it could cost each city ratepayer between $175 and $350 in property tax per year, or mean service cuts, Hussey said.

Deputy mayor Al Hayward asked Hussey if the delay would affect the city's credit rating or make it harder for the city's auditors to analyze the books. Hussey responded it's better to pass a budget late than to pass one that turns out to be wrong.

The budget picture is further clouded by the city's fiscal year, which ends Dec. 31, compared to the GN's fiscal year, which ends March 31.

Council also passed a motion instructing city staff to look at changing the city's fiscal year to end March 31, a change that wouldn't take effect until next year.

"It's one of the griefs we had with the capital plan," Hussey said.

Iqaluit also stands to receive a total of $3.3 million in infrastructure money from the federal government this year, Hussey said.