The Town of St. Paul appears to be in good financial standing following the presentation of the consolidated financial statement by the town’s accountant on April 14.
Barb McCarthy, an accountant with Joly, McCarthy & Dion Chartered Accountants, brought the 2013 consolidated financial statements to Town of St. Paul council last week.
According to McCarthy, the town ran a surplus of almost $595,000 for 2013. The overall surplus was due to change in accumulated surplus over the course of 2013 of $91,000, and a change in restricted surplus of $500,000.
Of the town’s financial situation, McCarthy said, “They have a strong financial position this year. It’s because they have positive net financial assets. They won’t have to borrow for their current operations.”
“It was great that we managed to stick to our budget, we were close. We look to have a balanced budget year-to-year when we do these things. It’s nice when we’re close,” said Mayor Glenn Anderson.
He added, “We’re around a half a million dollar surplus. It’s a challenge sometimes, because you never know what is going to happen with water breaks and utility problems. According to this year’s statement, we’re doing well. There’s not a lot of debt, things are progressing, and we are growing, and that’s a good thing.”
Net financial assets for t 2013 increased to just short of $1.1 million, from about $360,000 in 2012. That is the total amount of money available for this year’s expenses.
Property taxes for the town in 2013 covered real property taxes, government grants in place of taxes, linear property taxes, requisitions like the Alberta School Foundation and the MD Foundation. Net taxes for general municipal purposes levied in 2013 were just over $5 million.
According to the statement, the total expenses for the town in 2013 were just short of $12.5 million. Expenses included salaries, wages, benefits, contracted and general services, materials, goods, supplies, utilities, purchases from other governments, transfers to local boards and agencies, transfers to individuals and organizations, bank charges, interest on long-term debt, provision for allowances and tax rebates, and amortization.
Many of the expenses budgeted turned out to be close to expectations in 2013. One exception was planning and development, which was budgeted at $31,000 but turned out being just over $374,000.
McCarthy said the reason for such a gap is that planning and development includes the cost of land sold. In 2012, the town bought the old Associated Medical Clinic, and put it into inventory. When the town sold the clinic this year, they had it expensed in revenue. This is also the reason that sales and user fees for 2013 came to just short of $3.2 million, when it was budgeted for almost $2.9 million.
Long-term debt including tax supported debentures in capital, and self supported debentures in operating totaled at just over $3 million. This was a decrease from total long-term debt in 2012, which was just over $3.3 million. Additionally, interest on the long-term debt also decreased in 2013, to slightly over $143,000 from over $150,000 in 2012.
“The town continues to invest in infrastructure. The town is basically operating in a positive way, maintaining their infrastructure as well as they can, with the resources they have,” said McCarthy.
