According to a study on the financial reports of municipalities, Saskatoon’s grade is as close to failing as you can get without actually getting an F. According to the C.D. Howe institute’s paper, Saskatoon earns a D- on the Baffling Budget Scorecard. We are right down there with Calgary and London. On the other hand, the report says Saskatoon and its D- fellows are guilty of the same charges as those with an F, but our slightly earlier publication dates, and/or more prominent presentation of operating and capital totals on the same page, kept us out of the bottom. Among the major flaws of the bottom-dwellers were: Burying key budget numbers deep in the documents, budgets voted after the fiscal year has already started and financial statements release six months or more after the year has ended, and budgets that use different accounting and financial statements. The document says Saskatoon’s total spending according to the budget in 2017 was $1.07 billion, but in the financial statements it was 0.77 billion; a difference of -28.6 per cent.