The City of Thunder Bay is 179 million dollars in debt. That's one of the figures found in the 2011 budget overview. Borrowing money for capital projects accounts for 68 million dollars of the city's total debt. Water and Wastewater loans for the treatment plants is 96.9 million; and the remainder of the debt is from debentures made for TBayTel. For every dollar the City has in its reserve funds it has a dollar ninety in debt. Municipal credit rating agencies recommend having a debt to reserve ratio of a dollar for dollar.