There have been increased costs in some areas but these have been offset by increased revenues or savings in other areas, District of Clearwater’s director of finance Wes Renaud reported to town council on Oct. 4.
“The amount budgeted during the 2016 budget preparation process remains achievable,” he said in a budget position report to council.
The septage receiving station began earning revenues in May and, as of the end of August, had earned about $15,000.
“Should these revenues remain the same for September and October, revenues will total $23,000 instead of the budgeted $42,000,” he reported.
The shortfall was due to the need to continue using the regional district site for a while.
Costs to operate the station to the end of August were $11,500.
There was no hockey school this summer, resulting in a loss of $7,000 in budgeted revenue. However, as the school did not have any costs related to it, there shouldn’t be much financial impact as a result.
Expenditures for general government services, one of the two major sources of expenditures, are slightly under budget.
ICBC payroll is 5.6 per cent over budget (about $5,500), due in large part to the implementation of PolicyCenter (the insurance company’s new software) and the training of new staff.
The District’s legal budget for 2016 is $15,000 and so far nearly $20,000 has been spent.
General government services include the costs for Dutch Lake Community Centre and the Centennial Building (former municipal office building, operation expenses for finance and administration, and operation expenses for ICBC.
Transportation services, the other major source of expenditures, also has its expenditures under budget.
As of the end of August, $420,500 out of a total $650,000 budgeted had been spent.
Roads, transit, public works and septage receiving are included in the transportation category.
Parks and recreation services is also under budget, even though there were extra charges for such things as opening the parks 2.5 weeks early. The parks capital budget of $45,000 has been overspent by about $300.
Water services are right on budget. Maintenance issues at Well #1 and a water main break at Clearwater Valley Road near Wyndhaven resulted in nearly $27,000 being spent from a $20,000 preventative maintenance budget.
There was also a $1,800 overrun due to yard damage on Murtle Crescent and waterline repair on Station Road.
A flood event caused by a downpour on Aug. 3 resulted in $7,000 damage to municipal facilities. Other costs still have to come in, Renaud.
The District hopes to be reimbursed by senior levels of government for the damage. However, private homeowners will not be covered, as there was not enough damage to declare a disaster.