Despite a global pandemic, Bowen Island Municipality is, so far, essentially on budget for 2020.
“We’re at approximately 46 per cent of budget,” chief financial officer Raj Hayre told the Finance Advisory Committee Aug. 21 in his mid-year review. “Some of the difference is due to timing when expenditures take place and some of the variances are due to funding activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The municipality saw savings where staff and council weren’t travelling and training due to the pandemic, in recreation administration as there was less time rented at the school gym and in parks when it came to curtailed contract services.
There were increased expenditures in emergency services due to the pandemic but funding from the provincial government and the Bowen Island Community Foundation is offsetting some of these costs.
While BIM lost recreation programming revenues, it didn’t have many of the costs associated with putting on programming as much was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Capital project spending is so far light as COVID-19 delayed work, said Hayre’s staff report but is expected to ramp up in the second half of 2020.
When it comes to taxation revenue, as of the middle of August, the municipality was down 31 deferments over last year Hayre told the committee, however as there was a change in how deferments are handled (they now go through the province, not the municipality) he expects to see more between now and the end of the year.
In non-COVID related expenditures, fire and emergency is “trending unfavourable to budget due to severance payments incurred in early 2020,” said Hayre’s staff report. “Approximately $47k of the unfavourable variance at June 30 is offset by a favourable variance reflected in revenues. This is due the carry forward of the 2019 budget for the Fire Core Services review to 2020.”
Corporate services is also trending overbudget as the interim chief administrative officer position was extended into May (at which time current CAO Liam Edwards took over).
Hayre told the committee that the third quarter review would have a forecast of expenditures to the year end and will provide “a stronger indication of entities debated expenditures to year end in comparison to budget.”
