M.D. council reviews 2019 audit

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By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

The Municipal District of Taber’s 2019 from a financial point of view was pretty good.

Council got a chance to review their previous year when KPMG LLP presented their financial audited statement ending on Dec. 31, 2019, at their April 14 regular meeting.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on plenty of projects throughout the province, M.D. staff and KPMG were able to complete the bulk of the audit work before things started to shut down.

“We were fortunate to get most of our work finished before the lockdown started to happen in regard to COVID. We are prepared to issue an unmodified or a clean audit opinion,” said Derek Taylor of KPMG.

Financial assets in 2019 saw cash and temporary investments at $22,677,696 which was up from $20,287,660 from the prior year.

The total financial asset number was also up by over $1 million as it reached $25,767,635.

Liabilities saw long-term debt decrease to $8,100,031 in 2019 from $8,687,439.

The M.D.’s net financial assets reached $17,667,604 compared to $15,849,439 in 2018.

Non-financial assets peaked at $134,632,988 while 2018 saw $135,373,832.

Their accumulated surplus hit $152,300,592, which was up from $151,222,271 the previous year.

In terms of revenue for the municipality, their biggest driver was net municipal property taxes ($15,595,777), user fees and sales of goods ($2,057,825), government transfers for operating ($1,383,929) and rentals ($1,855,543) for a total of $21,607,580.

Overall, the M.D. saw a decrease in revenue as 2018 totalled $22,527,224.

In terms of taxation, $21,323,590 came from property taxes and $11,400 from government grants in place of property taxes, totalling $21,334,990.

From requisitions, the M.D. saw $5,302,260 from the Alberta School Foundation Fund ($5,302,260), Designated Industrial Assessment ($84,873), Holy Spirit School Division ($130,882) and Taber Seniors Foundation ($221,198) for a total of $5,739,213.

On the expense side, the biggest financial commitments were general administrative ($2,510,810), fire ($1,269,155), roads, streets, walks and lighting ($10,454,625), water and wastewater ($1,744,139), agricultural services ($1,487,657) and recreation and parks ($1,182,516) for a total of $21,237,101.

Last year’s total was at $23,530,307.

In 2019, the M.D. also saw government transfers for capital of $707,842, leaving their excess of revenue over expenses at $1,078,321.

Total council salaries in 2019 were $39,867 (Division 1), $39,800 (Division 2), $24,968 (Division 3), $29,472 (Division 4), $38,914 (Division 5), $31,072 (Division 6) and $30,923 (Division 7).

Other salaries included eight months of the regular CAO ($141,478), five months of the interim CAO ($94,645) and the designated officer ($154,553).

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