ST. PAUL - The Town of St. Paul has received a clean audit report, according to 2021 financials presented at the April 11 council meeting.
A completion letter presented to council by Barb McCarthy with JMD Group states "We have not identified any significant audit matters that we wish to bring to your attention."
Presenting the draft statement, it was noted that revenues were up slightly, compared to what had been budgeted for 2021. The St. Paul Golf Course came in $40,000 over budget in sales, while other departments also has a little bit more revenue than expected, said McCarthy.
Revenues for 'penalties and costs of taxes' was lower than budgeted, coming in at $128,024. The budget had been set at $150,500. And 'fines issued' came in at $55,00, which was very close to the budgeted amount.
Total operating revenues was just over $15 million, coming in slightly above the budgeted amount of $14.9 million.
Expenses
When looking at expenses, the administration department came in slightly below budgeted, which was likely attributed to staff changes that happened over the course of the year.
Expenses for the protective services department came in a little over budget, mostly due to policing costs.
Transportation came in below budget at $4.5 million. That budget had been set for over $4.7 million.
"Pot hole repairs were $100,000 below budget," said McCarthy. Funds set aside for golf course drainage issues were lower than budgeted, along with street light costs being lower.
The Town did switch to LED lighting, explained CAO Steven Jeffery. The switch to LED showed a "significant drop in consumption," he noted, which may now be offset due to significant increases in the cost of electricity.
The water and wastewater department came in above budget at nearly $2.5 million. The budget had been set at close to $2.4 million. Part of th increase was attributed to a new position in the department.
The waste management department came in slightly below budget, public health and welfare was very close to budget, and planning and development came in below budget.
The recreation and culture department came in at $4 million, but was budgeted at $3.7 million. Salaries were up as more activities took place in 2021, noted McCarthy, despite the ongoing pandemic in 2021.
In the end, total expenses ended up slightly below budget and a surplus for the year of $1.3 million is shown on the financial statements.
Residential property taxes levied in 2021 was $5.2 million, compared to the budget of $5 million.
Commercial property taxes were budgeted at $3.5 million, and the financial statement shows just under that amount was received.
Linear property taxes came in nearly exactly on budget, at just under $200,000. Grants in lieu of taxes were also nearly exactly as budgeted at $268,988. The Town of St. Paul collected $1.9 million under the Alberta School Foundation, and $246,336 for the MD of St. Paul Foundation.
This results in net municipal taxes of over $6.9 million collected.
Timeline
During discussions on Monday night, Coun. Norm Noel asked if there was something the Town could do to help speed up the process of doing the audit, since council depends on the document for its budget planning.
McCarthy responded by saying she's hopeful the Town's new Chief Financial Officer sticks around for a few years. A number of changes in staffing resulted in a bit of a delay due to more research having to be done.
Speaking about the Town's CFO Mitchel Bachelet, McCarthy said, "He definitely seems to be catching on very quickly."
Miller acknowledged Noel's concerns, saying it does make things very tight over the next few weeks as the Town works to finish up the budget.
"It definitely makes things tight for administration," said the mayor.
A motion to approve the draft financial statements was carried.
