BOYLE – The Village of Boyle got the proverbial ‘all clear’ from its auditor after the 2023 fiscal year — while it still ran a small deficit, the village performed better than expected when all was said and done.
“It came as no surprise, administration is always on top of things; Tina and Warren work closely together and always keep us up to date,” said Mayor Colin Derko. “Since Warren came on, he’s worked closely to streamline processes and make things easier to read. It’s always good to get that reassurance that everything is going as we thought it was and expected it to.”
During a special council meeting held on March 27, auditor Kendra Stasiuk told councillors the audit had gone without a hitch, praising the assistance of Boyle’s administrative staff and noting several areas of improvement over 2022.
“You had a much better year than last, and you’ve been steadily improving and gaining each year,” said Stasiuk. “You guys have a healthy cash balance, fully funded reserves, and an unrestricted surplus of $2.8 million. Financially, you’re very healthy.”
High inflation rates and a warmer-than-average winter helped the village reduce its deficit in 2023 — investment income doubled compared to the budget, bringing in just over $182,000 versus $90,000 in 2022. The village only spent $431,000 versus the expected $713,000 on gas purchases.
In total, the village received $4 million in revenue in 2023; $1.1 million came from municipal taxes, just under $2 million came from user fees and sales of goods, and the rest came from a mixture of sources. Boyle also reported $4.4 million in expenses, although $730,000 of that was the amortization of its capital assets and only exists on paper.
“I’ve been optimistic about (the numbers) all along, but its good to hear that the plan is working from an independent source, that we’re financially stable and moving in a direction that is less common nowadays,” said Derko. “We’re hearing a lot nowadays that people are struggling, but we’ve been able to get a lot of work done around the town.”
“We’ve been able to get a lot of work done around town, we’ve had an aggressive schedule when it comes to infrastructure, roads, equipment. It’s not more spending, but it's better spending, we’re being more fiscally responsible.”
Boyle also took on a new liability in 2024 — four buildings owned by the municipality contain asbestos and per new regulation from Canadian Accounting Standards, municipalities must have a plan in place for how they would pay it off. Boyle has a total estimated abatement value of $331,300, although that number will rise the longer it waits to do the work.
“It’s something in future budgets that we’ll have to look at and say, ‘Okay we need to look at placing a little away each year so we can meet our obligation,’” said village CAO Warren Griffin. “Or is it something where we’re going to sell it? Once we sell it, we don’t need to abate it. How do you justify putting money into a reserve for something we may not even need to reclaim?”
The village has also continued to pay off its debt; between principal and interest, Boyle still has a total of $4.35 million left on its existing debentures, and a remaining debt limit of $2.67 million, with a servicing limit of $620,000. Two loans will mature in the upcoming years; a Province of Alberta loan at 1.13 per cent interest will mature June 15, 2026, and a second provincial loan with 4.36 per cent interest will mature on June 15, 2027.
Stasiuk warned councillors about the high interest rates, pointing out that a single loan could balloon quickly and tie up their servicing limit — municipalities are allowed a debt limit one-and-a-half times their yearly revenue, and can only take on payments that are less than a quarter of revenue.
“There’s definitely room to acquire more debt, but again you’ll want to watch the debt servicing limit,” said Stasiuk. ‘It is your interest and your principal rates combined, so with the current interest rates if you had too short of a term, you could eat that up in pretty short order.
“In a few years, this isn’t going to be a concern anymore however, because you’re going to open up a whole bunch of room.”
