Powell River Regional District and Regional Hospital Board are both fiscally fit according to audits of the 2013 financial statements.
During a review of the regional hospital board’s audit conducted earlier this year, Colin Palmer, regional board chair, said he wanted to bring attention to the opening statement in the audit, indicating there were no matters of audit significance that arose.
“That’s usually a comforting statement,” Palmer said at the Thursday, May 22, regional district meeting. “The auditors have given a good summary of how well we are doing.”
In a report to the board Linda Greenan, the regional district’s manager of financial services, indicated the regional hospital district’s accumulated surplus shows an increase due to reduced debt obligations and increased reserve funds and tangible capital assets. She said the overall financial position of the regional hospital board shows a net increase of $2.6 million from 2012.
Kristine Simpson, representing BDO Canada LLP, the accountants that audited the financial statements, stated full support was received from regional district management and staff, and the scope of the audit was not restricted in any way. “Our audit opinion is without reservation, indicating that our audit tests and procedures yielded reliable results,” she wrote in a written report to the board.
Palmer thanked Greenan for her hard work and said usually with the hospital district, it is a case of money flowing in and out on debt payments.
“With Willingdon Creek Village and the coordination with Vancouver Coastal Health, there’s a lot of extra responsibility for you,” he said.
During the review of the regional district’s 2013 financial statements, Greenan said the board had reviewed the draft financial statements in April. The auditor examined the documents subsequent to the board’s review of the draft and did not find anything that would alter the results.
Greenan read the opinion of the auditors, which stated: “In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly in all material respects, the financial position of the Powell River Regional District as at December 31, 2013, and the results of its operation and cash flows for the year that ended, in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards.”
In her summary to her report, Greenan stated that the regional district is in a desirable position with respect to relatively low operating costs, surplus levels and low debt. The budget showed a nine per cent increase in total taxation.
Greenan said the regional district’s accumulated surplus for 2013 was $16.2 million, up from $15.6 million the previous year.
The regional board approved both audits unanimously.
