A special meeting of the Regional District was held on Nov. 15 to tackle some bubbles in the upcoming budget.
Planning is underway now to get the next fiscal plan ready for the transition of year-end to the next budget in spring. Some of the area’s big-ticket community items were in need of adjusting, according to Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) chief financial officer John Illes.
Illes presented a report that warned RDBN officials of what’s coming down the financial pike.
For one example, staffing costs are tied to BC’s consumer price index which is expected to climb.
For another example, the Regional District’s garbage collection system is progressing towards a user-pay system instead of general taxation coverage and a one-time bump of about 10 per cent was likely needed for the Environmental Services budget.
The main point in the report was annual grants for the Lakes District Museum, Burns Lake Public Library Association and Burns Lake Arena have their new expected costs included in the upcoming budget.
“Based on early estimates of inflation, the grant for operations has been proposed to be increased to $222,000 (from $207,800) in line with inflation,” Illes reported. “Approval of this grant amount should be made as soon as reasonably possible to allow Village recreation staff to prepare annual budgets.”
Likewise, respectful of budgeting timelines for other departments, quick approval of the library and arena figures was recommended. Such early approval did not represent the cutting of any corners, only getting the calculations into the necessary hands in a timely manner, since they were ready anyway.
“Based on early estimates of inflation, the annual grant to the museum is proposed to increase to $57,000 (from $53,078) and the library grant is proposed to increase to $277,000 (from $260,000),” Illes explained. “The increases are approximately 6.5 per cent rounded to the nearest $1,000.”
He added that, “Changes may be warranted in 2024 to the Lakes District Arts Council and Lakes District Festival Society annual grants based on 2023 activities; however, the grants to these organizations have also been increased by a similar 6.5 per cent. The annual arts and culture grant-in-aid funding is not proposed to change in 2023.”
After questions and discussion among those present, including a broader talk about arts and recreation funding processes, a decision was made to defer a final vote to an upcoming meeting to allow for more consideration.