SUNDRE – The municipality has managed to consistently maintain a largely favourable financial position.
Presenting some highlights from the town’s third quarter reports, Chris Albert, director of corporate services, told council duringa meeting in recent weeks that revenues and expenses as of the end of October were mostly on par with the same time last year and “more or less” what was budgeted for 2023.
“I think I’ve said this every quarter, but looking at Quarter 3, the Town of Sundre is in very good financial shape,” Albert said.
“Interest rates are still benefitting us for now. Those higher interest rates benefit us on our savings,” he said. “Those savings will decrease over the next year or so, so we will lose that benefit. But for now, they are helping us.”
And while still varying to a degree, the cost of utilities such as gas and electricity for municipally-owned buildings and facilities remain close to projections, he said.
“They’re coming down, which is what we expected them to do. So, it’s nice to see that’s happening,” he said.
“Utility costs are of course still high, but they’re coming more in line with our projections, which is good.”
Additionally, Albert noted that salaries across departments were showing as “significantly lower” than the budgeted amounts, he said.
“That is to be expected,” he said, elaborating that a lot of accounting entries pertaining to payroll tend to come through in the fourth quarter.
As well, there remains an unfilled director’s position along with some other positions that have either fluctuated or been vacant for a while.
And although there were also some unexpected emergent matters requiring immediate attention, administration nevertheless managed to address those issues within the budget.
“Some of the buildings have had unanticipated emergency repairs; things that you can’t really control one year to the next,” he said, citing as examples heating issues at the Sundre Fire Hall as well as the Sundre Community Centre’s boiler.
“But the way that our budget is defined and the way that we incorporate that four-year plan into it, we have the room to work with those costs and work within those budgets.”
Generally speaking, most of the budget overages that appear in the third quarter financial reports stem from one-time, unanticipated expenses, he said.
“But we will be mitigating them through the remaining budget term, and in some cases into the next year or two,” he added.
In terms of cash, Albert told council the town’s bank accounts are right where expected.
“We have more than sufficient funds for upcoming expenditures,” he said. “We’re in a good place there.”
Restricted surplus accounts were also in a good position. However, as the funds are reserved for specific projects, those savings are expected to be tapped into over the coming years, mostly in 2024 but also in 2025, he said, adding numerous projects were also completed this year.
According to information outlined in Albert’s report to council, which can be found in the Nov. 6 agenda on the town’s website, the municipality as of the end of the third quarter had about $3.3 million in its operating account, plus roughly $925,000 in investment accounts as well as an additional $8.7 million in restricted surplus accounts for total holdings of nearly $13 million.
Council unanimously carried a motion accepting the report as information.
