City of Powell River Council will consider spending money on capital projects, which were deferred because of the onset of COVID-19.
At the September 29 committee of the whole meeting, chief financial officer Adam Langenmaier said he was appearing before council, seeking its approval, to return capital and special project deferral authorization to the discretion of the chief administrative officer and chief financial officer.
In a written report to council, Langenmaier stated that at the May 21 council meeting, council approved the deferral of many capital and special projects in an effort to reduce discretionary cash spending to maintain financial stability through the early stages of COVID-19.
He told the committee that as of the time his report was written, the city had collected 78.4 per cent of total outstanding property taxes. A more recent update revealed the city was at 80.4 per cent.
In his written report, Langenmaier stated these collections have provided adequate cash to continue operations and reduce the need to rely on capital reserves to fund operations. Therefore, he stated, the city is in a position to resume some of its 2020 capital plan.
“Staff requested that council authorize the chief administrative officer and chief financial officer to authorize specific capital and special projects that are important to maintaining operations, are subject to grant funding, or have other urgency,” stated Langenmaier. “Capital projects that do not meet these criteria will continue to be deferred until further property tax collection is made or long-term financial implications of COVID-19 are better understood.”
Langenmaier’s report states that council authorized the deferral of $2.8 million in capital projects for 2020.
“Total financial impact will be less than $2.8 million as it is unlikely that the city will be free from the impacts of COVID-19 for some time, and therefore, not all capital projects will be completed,” stated Langenmaier.
Councillor George Doubt, chair of the city’s financial committee, asked Langenmaier if the city was in a place where it was in a positive cashflow, in other words, there is more revenue than expenses so far this year.
Langenmaier said the city had more revenue than expenses at this point.
Doubt said he was fine with the request, looking at the report.
“It looks like we’re slightly ahead in the tax collection from what we had predicted,” said Doubt. “I just want to caution staff to keep us in that situation where revenue is higher than what we’ve been spending because I’d like us to come out in the black at the end of this year because we don’t know what next year is going to bring. We need to be in a good position at the end of the year.”
Council voted to refer the matter to city council for approval.
