Westlock-area residents can expect to pay less money to the Westlock Foundation when their 2015 municipal tax bills come around.
Foundation director Dennis Magnusson and housing administrator Jennifer MacLeod presented their 2015 budget to Westlock County council at its Dec. 9 meeting. The municipal requisitions have reduced by about 10 per cent from about $1.19 million 2014 to $1.08 million in 2015.
“We feel the requisitions, which over 80 per cent of the requisition is used for debt servicing, we feel it’s quite high,” Magnusson said. “As we’re able to reduce debt and improve our financial situation, hopefully we can bring that down further.”
Westlock Foundation, like Alberta Education, is able to requisition funds from municipalities and that cost is passed on to residents via their property tax bills.
Magnusson said 2014 is the first full year during which the Sturgeon Foundation has operated the Westlock Foundation following a November 2013 agreement.
“We’ve been through a lot of changes in the past year to try to bring our expenses and revenues in order, balance our budget and improve our financial situation,” he said.
He explained in balancing the budget for the Smithfield and Pembina lodges, the foundation has been able to include its debt servicing on three outstanding loans, put $73,000 into an operating contingency, $100,000 into reserves and put $140,000 towards capital improvements.
Magnusson explained that during the past year, foundation administration has worked on improving operating systems and has adjusted staffing levels to bring expenses down.
“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “It takes two or three years to get to where ideally we would want to be.”
He said improvements have also been made in the working relationship with Alberta Health Services — Smithfield Lodge has some residents who require a higher level of care, and they receive additional funding from the health authority to cover some of those costs.
Another change that has helped to balance the books is increased occupancy — there are currently just 13 vacant rooms in the Pembina Lodge compared to more than 30 at this time last year.
There is currently a waiting list of about two dozen to get into the Smithfield Lodge — that facility has some spaces with a higher level of care available.
“That’s equivalent to nursing-home care, and therefore the greatest waiting list is there,” Magnusson said. “We’re hoping in the next year that we can overcome the problem.”
Coun. Jim Wiese, Westlock Foundation board chair, explained to council that there is a bit of a “disconnect” at play, where many prospective residents on the waiting list don’t realize that if they accept one of the empty spaces in the Pembina Lodge, they are moved to the top of the waiting list and can move into Smithfield as soon as space becomes available.
“It’s been a hard message to convey to seniors,” he said. “We know we’re having some difficulty there, because they should be in Pembina and then they’ll go to Smithfield quickly. That message just doesn’t seem to get through.”
There are three self-contained units in Westlock, one in Jarvie and one in Clyde that have fallen under the jurisdiction of Westlock Foundation as of Jan. 1, 2014. The budget for those units is addressed separately than that of the lodges.
With a revenue of $534,000 and expenses of $484,000, those units will see a $50,000 surplus, but Magnusson cautioned there is some catching up to do with respect to maintenance.
“We’re in the process of doing some catching up,” he said. “Most of our costs are to do with operating expenses and maintenance.”
Specific areas of maintenance to be done are laundry facilities at four of the sights, painting, tree pruning, carpet cleaning and buying some outdoor equipment like snowblowers.
“It’s important to keep your property in good shape to extend the life,” Magnusson said.
