SUNDRE – Although utility costs remain something of a difficult-to-predict variable for the municipality’s budget, the third-quarter financial reports were otherwise largely “consistent” with administration’s expectations.
“Everything is looking very consistent, I’m not seeing any red flags,” Chris Albert, director of corporate services, told council during the Nov. 28 regular meeting, adding he reviewed the figures in search of abnormalities such as large variances between budgeted amounts and actuals.
The third quarter reports track the municipality’s revenues and expenses as of Sept. 30.
Albert said he appreciates when questions are submitted by members of council prior to the meeting’s discussion so he can better be prepared to provide a well-informed answer. However, as there in this instance were no queries from council submitted in advance, Albert said he nevertheless had made note of a few observations.
“The overall results seem to be on par with last year; it’s about right where I would expect to be in Q3,” he said. “Utility costs, of course, are still an issue as we’ve all known from our personal bills.”
As a result of timing on expenses going through, there were also some variances within individual departments such as roads, he said.
“The overall position of that department (roads), is about where I expected it; it’s pretty on-par with the projected budget, and it’s pretty on-par with last year,” he said.
According to the financial figures outlined to council in the meeting’s agenda package, the roads department had as of Sept. 30, racked up expenses to the tune of $394,907. The year-to-date figure for the same time last year was $281,650. The year-to-date amount budgeted for 2022 was $402,028.
Albert also noted the planning and development department ended up with a negative expense on materials and supplies.
“That is the result of a travel refund,” he said, adding a conference that had been book and budgeted was in the end reimbursed and that the budget line would correct itself in the next fourth quarter.
Another budget item that appeared to have “quite a large variance from budget to actual” was the Sundre Arena, he said.
“Which is of course to be expected for Q3,” he said, adding the arena is only open for a portion of the third quarter and that those costs tend to materialize in the fourth quarter.
According to the figures in the report, the year-to-date cost to run the arena in 2022 as of Sept. 30 was $61,412, as compared with $113,327 in the same period of time last year. The overall budgeted amount is $227,211. Those amounts represent accumulative expenses like salaries, supplies and utilities that are offset by revenues.
The Greenwood Campground was another item Albert noted because of “quite a big variance” in three areas. The two main line items impacted were materials and utilities, he said.
“Both of those are very much affected by use,” he said. “So, the offset to that is revenue, which is the third area that we’ve actually seen a variance in. We had a lot more users in the summer of 2022, which is a great thing for the campground, (but) that of course hikes up the materials and the utilities.”
The campground, which had been budgeted by the end of the third quarter to bring in $29,453, ended up generating $57,345 in revenue, as compared with $64,795 by that same time in 2021. Materials and supplies, which were budgeted to reach $10,297 by the end of the third quarter, came in at $15,373, compared with $11,162 this time last year. Utilities also jumped up beyond the budgeted year-to-date forecast of $5,883 to $9,372, compared with $8,579 last year.
The town’s cash position remains “quite stable at the moment,” which is to be expected for the third quarter, he said.
“We have about $7.6 million in total holdings,” he told council.
After concluding his presentation, council carried a motion accepting the report for information.
The report is available in full on the municipality’s website by clicking on “Council” under the main page’s “Your Government” tab, then selecting “Meeting Minutes and Agendas” to find the Nov. 28 package.
