The municipality of Kincardine is getting good grades on its financial report card.
BDO Dunwoody audited the municipal books for 2008 and found that the municipality had increased its reserve funds by over three million dollars from 2008 levels to over 24 million dollars.
Municipal revenue also took a sharp increase from 10.4 million dollars in 2007 to over 27.6 million in 2008.
Spending went up too — from over 18.9 million in 2007 to over 29.4 last year.
Mayor Larry Kraemer says the municipality continues to be on sound financial footing and a lot of projects are underway.
But the report also criticizes many projects are not being done within the year they’re planned for.
Auditor Michael Bolton says the municipality has increased their assets.
He also notes higher amounts in reserves will allow the municipality to spend more in the future because the money has been stored away.
Meanwhile, council is passing a series of amendments to the 2009 budget to allow for over 1.2 million dollars in additional spending.
The good news is that the tax rate won’t be affected.
Over 755 thousand of that is being covered by reserves and over 447 thousand will be looked after by external sources of revenue such as government grants.
The biggest reasons behind the extra spending include the unexpected 177 thousand dollar cost of removing old gas tanks that were discovered buried in the ground while St. Andrews Park in Tiverton was being redeveloped.
The tank removal and environmental cleanup of the soil in the area also delayed having the park open in time for the recent Tiverton Reunion.
Kraemer calls the discovery of the tanks a “rude surprise,” because the municipality had been assured tanks that had previously been buried there were removed.
Government stimulus grants have also caused a big impact on spending because the municipality will have to cover one-third of the cost for various projects — including renovations to the old town hall, the new Davidson Centre gymnasium, and new washrooms at Connaught Park.