The following budget update was sent out by Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority as part of the highlights of the last board meeting.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority suffered a $73,000 deficit in the first six months of 2020. This is mainly due to several departments being negatively impacted by the pandemic, including education and lands (parking, weddings, Spring Tonic festival, other events).
NVCA was also not qualified to receive relief from any government grants, including the federal government’s 75 per cent wage compensation grant, or the payout from the federal government.
NVCA is attempting to mitigate losses as much as possible to reduce deficit. Some actions include the emergency layoff of 15 out of 50 staff, delaying capital expenditures and shifting work originally planned to be completed by contractors to be completed by staff.
Staff anticipates a deficit of $100,000 by the end of 2020 and will be taking funds out of reserves to cover the deficits.
Conservation Ontario is currently acting on behalf of all conservation authorities to determine if there would be relief coming from the Province of Ontario.
Preliminary Budget Guidance
The NVCA Board of Directors approved the preliminary budget guidelines to increase the municipal levy by 1.5%.
This number was developed after considering factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial transfer payment from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, economic factors, and the board direction to replenish reserves to 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the operational budget.
Based on this approval, staff will prepare a draft budget for board consideration for the September board meeting. The draft budget will be circulated to member municipalities after the September meeting for a 60-day review and consultation process. Staff will present to municipal councils if requested during this time.
The final budget will be presented to the board of directors at the December meeting for approval.
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