Duane Hicks
Town council went over a revised version of its 2015 operating and capital budgets during a meeting yesterday.
While the preliminary 2015 operating budget council received at its regular meeting last week indicated a surplus of $1,877, the updated version now shows a deficit of $70,317.
Some of the tweaking was done based on the actual year-end revenues for 2014.
But the major difference was the shifting of a $72,419 surplus for the day care into reserve funds—to be used for anticipated building requirements for the facility down the road, including a new roof.
“When we review [the budget], you put all the numbers together and see where it shakes out,” treasurer Laurie Witherspoon told the Times.
“And when you’re looking through everything, you see it doesn’t make sense to have a credit there when we know that we’re going to have to find the money somewhere to make improvements to that building,” she explained.
“To me, that was the biggest factor.”
The current deficit of $70,317 equals a tax increase of less than one percent.
However, due to changes in assessment this year, only the large industrial class would be hit with a tax increase, Witherspoon said.
The rest would have a slight decrease from where they were sitting last year, she noted.
The town also still is waiting on more numbers that will impact the budget, including the District Social Services Administration Board’s budget.
Meanwhile, council took a quick look at the capital budget, which currently includes $17.5 million in projects.
One item that has been included in every capital budget since 2003, yet is cut each year, is a salt and sand storage shed for Public Works.
With a price tag of more than $528,000, the large structure would cover up to 6,000 tonnes of salt and sand, which the town would use for winter road maintenance.
Coun. Perry said this year is the best time to look at getting a salt shed.
Having one “is a necessity in a town of the size that we have,” and would help the town with its winter road maintenance.
Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said having salt available at a moment’s notice is valuable.
Currently, having to get salt from elsewhere, such as Nickel Lake, costs time and money.
And salt itself, at times, is in such short supply that the town can’t get it.
As in past years, several capital projects are contingent on the town getting certain provincial and federal grants.
As its stands right now, $7 million in projects will be paid for through federal gas tax reserve funds, general reserve funds, and water and sewer reserve funds.
Several members of council expressed concern that this would reduce the town’s total reserves to $6.8 million by the end of 2015.
This, as well as possibly incurring another $2.2 million in long-term debt, is something that should be carefully considered when council thinks about what to keep in the final capital budget.
Division managers will come back to council with a capital budget that includes a prioritization of items—from most urgent to the least—at its next budget meeting Feb. 2.
