BATTLEFORD - The Town of Battleford saw a positive report in its latest financial statement.
Financial manager Tetiana Polishchuk gave an update on the year-to-date report ending June 30th, at this week's council meeting.
Polishchuk noted that by June 30, the town recognized $5.9 million in revenue, which is 61 per cent of the town's forecast for the year.
"Overall, operating revenue is on target," she said.
Polishchuk added that on the expense side, $3.1 million has been spent, which is 46 per cent of what was forecast for the year.
"It's a good per cent, so to say," she noted.
Mayor Ames Leslie was pleased with the results.
"I think it looks really good," he said. "Revenues are revenues. You can't control those. But as an elected official, it's the expenses you can have a hand in in containing and controlling. To have only 46 per cent of our yearly expenses at the half-way mark is a good pace."
He noted there were some expenses that led to costs being a little bit higher - like transportation.
"We had a lot of snow removal in the last part of the year," Leslie said. "So, that number was a little bit higher; it can be justified for that. As well, there was a little extra work to make the arena good - the sprinkler systems. That was a little bit over-run of the price that we had seen from council approved. That number is a little bit higher. So, if you take those numbers away, we're probably only about 40 per cent of our yearly expected expenses. That is a great job of our team."
He added that many people don't realize that the way the town can pave more streets is to cut expenses and find savings within the organization.
"Taxes only cover so much," Leslie said. "They are for operational expenses. They are not for future infrastructures. So, if we can keep that pace of cutting expenses with what we feel what it will cost to run this community, that means that that's more money we can free up to build more parks, and pave more streets, and more sidewalks."
