Battleford council received an update on the town's first-quarter finances for 2020 at its online meeting Monday

By Angela Brown

In the chambers

Town gives update on first-quarter finances

Apr 21, 2020 | 5:37 PM

Battleford council received an update on the town’s year-to-date financial report for the first quarter, covering January to the end of March, at its meeting this week.

The town looked at finances in relation to the COVID-19 restrictions that went into effect around the middle of March.

“There were no real visual signs of red flags at this point,” Mayor Ames Leslie said. “The first quarter was kind of before the preliminary time of the pandemic changes, so no real red flags at this point of whether or not the revenue may be short.”

Leslie said Finance Director David Gillan identified a few potential areas where revenue could be impacted, such as through the town’s parks and recreation department. He cited the ball diamonds and campgrounds as examples as they’re not currently in use due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

“We could potentially see and recognize a little bit of shortfalls in revenue here in the next quarter,” the mayor said.

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Only about five per cent of the town’s total utility usage comes from commercial and industrial-type properties and the rest is residential. There will be a little bit of a setback in utility usage with a number of businesses closed to comply with the province’s mandates.

“But I think with the residential [usage] it (utility revenue) should be flat at best, if not maybe a little bit up,” the mayor said as more families are staying home and likely increasing their utility usage.

Finance Director Gillan said in his report summary the 2020 operating budget surplus “remains on target.” He said the town’s capital spend for the year also is on target, as he says, despite the risks associated with COVID-19.

Gillan pointed out the town is well positioned to stay the course.

He said should the COVID-19 restrictions continue throughout the second-quarter (April to June) of 2020, he believes the town has “various options to react and maintain the budgeted surplus without a need to reduce service to the community.”

Related to the COVID-19 situation for the first-quarterly period, Gillan said the town is experiencing lower revenue from facility user-fees since many of the town’s facilities were required to close due to COVID-19 restrictions that started mid March. However, on the plus side, the town has seen lower fuel costs within the Parks and Recreation department, which helps to offset some of the other loss somewhat.

Gillan said the wastewater lagoon upgrade is the town’s most significant capital project coming up, with a total projected cost of over $5 million, with the province and federal government contributing part of that amount. Gillan said the project is expected to be completed in 2020 with no anticipated disruption to service.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW