City council to present 2021 financial report Monday

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/03/2022 (1457 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon ended its 2021 fiscal year with a projected operating surplus of $1,894,219 in its general revenue operating fund and a surplus of $1,404,756 in its utility revenue operating fund.

That’s according to the city’s 2021 financial report, which will be reviewed by Brandon City Council at its meeting on Monday before being sent off to the province.

Every municipality in Manitoba must file an unaudited financial report annually for the preceding year under The Municipal Act.

With those surpluses, the city’s Audit and Finance Committee is proposing to allocate the general revenue surplus between the 2022 operating budget ($800,000), the Sportsplex reserve for the purpose of the planned roof replacement ($70,000), the COVID-19 restart reserve ($400,000), the disposal site reserve for the Eastview Landfill ($150,000), the Sportsplex reserve ($150,000), the storm sewer reserve ($150,000) and the parks reserve ($174,219).

The surplus from the utility revenue operating fund will be split between the water distribution reserve ($1 million) and the wastewater reserve ($404,756).

The department with the greatest savings for the city under its general revenue fund was Brandon Fire and Emergency Services, with ambulance services running $509,116 under budget and fire services running $439,633 under budget.

However, the city also collected approximately $1 million fewer in tax revenues than budgeted for.

After commissioning a conceptual plan for the redesigning and renovation of the library/arts building on Rosser Avenue, council will have the chance to look through the final results at Monday’s meeting.

The redesign would change the layout of the building to give the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba a presence on the first floor and create an external entrance through which the space could be accessed without patrons having to go in through The Town Centre mall.

A copy of the report attached to the agenda for Monday’s meeting lists several possible options the city could select for the building ranging in price from approximately $5 million to approximately $8 million.

“The scope of work is to include at minimum a re-planning of the main floor, likely to be executed as a complete demolition and reconstruction of the interior partitions and finish including revisions to washroom, mechanical and electrical systems, equipment and fixtures as required,” the report’s introduction reads.

“Consideration is to be made for a new orientation of the entrance for both the AGSM and the WMRL directly from Rosser Avenue.”

Council will hear reports from members of the audit and finance committee, the poverty committee and the Downtown Wellness and Safety Taskforce, and appoint new members to the Planning Commission and the board of the Brandon Downtown Development Corporation.

The appointment of city clerk Heather Ewasiuk to the role of senior election official for the upcoming municipal election will be voted on after previous incumbent Danniele Carriere moved on to become the chief administrative officer at the RM of Whitehead.

According to a document attached to the agenda for Friday’s meeting, Ewasiuk previously served in the role in 2010.

Additionally, the Brandon School Division is set to vote on her becoming the senior election official at an upcoming meeting.

While this meeting will still operate under the distancing guidelines that council has been operating under during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ewasiuk told the Sun on Friday that the April 4 meeting will once again allow members of the public to watch proceedings at Brandon City Hall.

The April 4 meeting will also include public hearings on the city’s 2022 financial plan as well as on the plans to borrow money to complete upgrades to the municipal water treatment plant and the drainage network in southeast Brandon.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @ColinSlark