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New Westminster school district trims deficit for 2021/22

Better-than-expected revenues have reduced the number from $2.1M to shy of $1.7M.
Budget 2022 Getty
The New Westminster school district is facing a $1.68M deficit for 2021/22 – better than the $2.1M it originally projected last May.

The New Westminster school district’s budget is a little rosier than it looked in 2021 – but it’s still facing a nearly $1.7-million deficit for this school year.

The School District 40 board adopted its amended budget for 2021/22 on Feb. 22.

The numbers show a slightly better financial picture than was originally envisioned when trustees first approved the 2021/22 budget in May 2021. At that time, the district had projected a $2.1-million deficit, to be funded out of surplus reserves.

Now that deficit is down to $1.68 million.

“Life has changed over the course of nearly a year since we passed that budget,” said secretary-treasurer Bettina Ketcham.

Ketcham said the district benefited from a boost in revenues on several fronts, including $321,000 more than expected from provincial grants due to enrolment increases.

The district has also seen more money than expected – an extra $327,000 – from international tuition fees and homestay revenues. In light of COVID, the district had budgeted for just 130 international fee-paying students this year. That’s now up to about 143 students.

Also adding to the coffers are revenues from the New Westminster Secondary School cafeteria ($40,000 more than expected) and community rentals of school facilities (an extra $70,000).

Ketcham noted the district had made some “relatively conservative assumptions” about facility rentals, given the ongoing pandemic, but community use of facilities is starting to pick up.

“It’s not a full return to normal, but we’re getting there, which is I think a good sign that people are getting out there and utilizing our gymnasium spaces again as we come out of the back end of this pandemic,” Ketcham said.

The district also benefited from a $99,000 rebate on gas from new heating systems at the new NWSS.

School district will drawn down $4.9-million surplus

The resulting $1.68-million deficit will be covered out of the district’s $4.9-million accumulated surplus reserves.

The district wants to draw that surplus down to about $2 million, or about 3% of its overall budget – which Ketcham said is considered the appropriate amount to have on hand to cope with unforeseen  circumstances.

Ketcham noted the district will be looking at that remaining surplus as it starts on its budget process for 2022/23 and beyond. New this year, the B.C. Ministry of Education is requiring districts to include a three-year financial forecast in their budgets for the coming school year.

“We’re going to have to be thoughtful about the next three years,” Ketcham said, noting the board may wish to set aside money to fund priorities in Year 2 and Year 3.

And she reminded trustees that the $1.68-million deficit still stands to change before the end of the school year. The board will receive an updated report before it adopts its new 2022/23 budget this May.

Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca.