MINTO – An annual independent audit has found the Town of Minto’s books to be in good financial order.
“It was a clean audit. There’s no issues. You’ve got a good staff and they take care of the books,” Ryan Deyell of Ward and Uptigrove told council on Aug. 7.
Deyell said the “key paragraph” in the audit report states, “In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of The Corporation of the Town of Minto as at December 31, 2018, and its results of its operations, changes in net financial assets, and its cash flows for the year then ended December 31, 2018 in accordance with Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards.”
“The big picture? This is a strong statement,” said Deyell.
He noted the town has over $11.8 million in current financial assets, an increase of about $1.2 million from the previous year.
“All the receivables are collectible and you’re doing a good job with that,” he noted.
The auditor pointed out the town’s total financial assets increased by about $1.8 million, from $13.1 million in 2017 to $14.9 million in 2018, while current liabilities, including payables, deferred revenues and employee benefits, totaled about $1.97 million.
“When you compare that to your current assets, you’re in really good shape there,” he explained.
Deyell noted the town recorded a surplus of $3.56 million in 2018, up slightly from the previous year.
“Your tangible capital assets have also increased – lots of investment in infrastructure and capital additions,” he stated.
“It’s all been done well and budgeted for and I commend everybody for that.”
Treasurer Gordon Duff noted “2018 was a little unique in that one project (downtown road reconstruction in Clifford) pretty much dominated.
“That was really a $4.7-million project and for us that’s huge,” said Duff.
He pointed out the project would not have been possible without funding from other levels of government, including $1 million in provincial Connecting Link cash.
“A municipality the size of Minto can’t do this size of project without the help of upper levels of government,” stated Duff.
Deputy mayor Dave Turton, who chairs the town’s finance committee, concurred with Deyell’s assessment of Minto’s treasury department.
“Gord and his staff, they do a great job, and he’s been doing a great job for a long time,” Turton stated.
