Battleford provided what turned out to be an optimistic update on the financial impact this year from COVID-19 at their meeting last week.
Acting Chief Administrative Officer David Gillan gave the report for the second quarter ending in July, and it indicated that the pandemic situation has not made a major dent to town finances. It appears the town is on pace with its projections, according to Gillan.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with the results so far”, said Gillan at the meeting. He said there was no need to cut services or capital at this point. “I think your surplus is still in good shape,” he told council.
According to Gillan’s report, revenue is 88 per cent collected for the year. Driving the numbers are revenues already in from the Municipal Operating Grant and the gas tax — that was driving revenue collection faster than it would otherwise, he said.
There is also additional funding coming in from the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program and Gillan said that is helping them get ahead of their numbers at this point.
On the downside, parks and recreation revenues are down compared to the same period last year, by about $100,000 on a year to year comparison.
In the end, Gillan expected overall revenue to be greater than last year at the end of the day, thanks largely to the MEEP contribution. He expected an additional $300,000-$400,000 compared to budget.
On the expense side, Gillan said the town was “really in good shape” and has spent 54 per cent of their allotment. Again, parks and recreation saw the most notable change as they posted the biggest decreases in costs to counter the revenue hit. Overall expenses are at $3 million, with a budget of $5.8 million.
In the end Gillan expects the town to be at or even a little bit below budget. For the second half of the year, he expects parks and rec to continue to be affected, and added that he did not expect expenses to change dramatically.
As for the utility department, their most recent billing had gone out and their numbers were almost exactly the same as a year before. They were not seeing a drop in the utility revenue so far, something that Gillan noted they had been concerned about earlier in the year.
