Increased water sales indicate improving economy

Sundre's economy seems to be gaining momentum following a lull over the past couple of years since the crash in the price of oil, council heard during the March 5 meeting.

“Good news,” Vic Pirie, director of finance and administration said enthusiastically during a presentation breaking down highlights of the 2017 third quarter financial report.

“It looks like the economy has been picking up, and in 2017 we're seeing that because if you take a look the sale of water services, we had budgeted about $48,400.”

That figure was determined based on the past few years of actual revenues that were generated, he said.

But in the financial review that he presented to council, the actual revenue generated for that line item was closer to $70,000 last year.

“We have seen the turnaround, starting in 2017, and has continued in the months of January and February, where the bulk sale — the sale of water services as companies are buying water from our bulk water meter — has gone up tremendously.”

Not so long ago, bulk water sales were generating close to $100,000 every year, a substantial amount of revenue that was lost over the last few years during the downturn, he said.

“We're starting to see it come around again now,” he said.

“As a result, you're seeing an increase in the revenues in that area.”

Additional savings have also occurred through the municipality's decision to take over the water department service instead of contracting out the work, he said.

“That comes from our staff looking at what we need and only buying what we require, as opposed to the past where the contractor would go out and buy a whole bunch of stuff.”

The situation with the wastewater department was similar, with use of the sewage lagoon increasing, he said, adding fees for the sale of wastewater services are up by almost $40,000, he said.

Pirie's full report is available online at the municipality's official website, www.sundre.com, under the Council Meeting Agendas and Minutes tab.