School District 43 is patting itself on the back for implementing tighter financial controls three years after it was told to do so in a forensic audit report.
But more work needs to be done on risk management and to develop a multi-year financial plan, the board of education was told Tuesday.
Chris Nicolls, the district’s assistant secretary treasurer, said the district has made progress since establishing an audit and finance committee three years ago and is on target to meet new provincial policies for school boards, including the adoption of taxpayer accountability principles. Nicolls said the district is striving to be “cost conscious” and more “efficient” and “effective” in how it uses taxpayers’ dollars.
As an example, he pointed to surpluses the district has begun to accumulate since “emerging from its deficit” — but while helping to pay down debt and establish a nest egg for future needs, those surpluses are among the smallest in the province.
“We struggle to spend every last dollar without going across the line,” Nicolls said.
Today, the district’s surplus is about $279 per student (FTE), placing the district 40th among 60 school districts and almost $200 lower than the provincial average of $455 per student FTE.
Districts are expected to have “some level of surplus,” Nicolls said, to cover “unexpected matters,” and the district divided its surplus last year to help stabilize finances over three years, Nicolls said.
The district also has one of the lowest administrative costs in the province, Nichols said.
The report comes as the district prepares to present its budget recommendation at a public meeting next week and is a rare peek into how administrators and the board deal with finances. The finance committee meeting is held in public, although quarterly finance reports are made public and decisions are generally made at public board meetings.
KPMG recommended the establishment of a finance committee, along with 13 other suggestions in its 2014 report, after reviewing circumstances that led to an $8-million deficit in 2012.
The following public budget meetings at Winslow Centre (1100 Winslow Ave., Coquitlam) are planned:
•Tuesday, April 11 at 6:30 p.m. — a preliminary budget will be presented, followed by an open house.
• Tuesday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m. — delegations will present, followed by trustee discussion.
• Tuesday, April 25, at 7 p.m. — the annual budget will be presented for approval.
More details are available at www.sd43.bc.ca/budget.
