Kimberley’s economy improved in 2017: Financial Report

The City of Kimberley’s accumulated surplus grew by nearly $4 million last year

The Business Development Office (BDO) recently presented Kimberley City Council with the consolidated financial statements report.

The City’s Chief Financial Officer Jim Hendricks says he was pleased with the results.

“The City’s financial position improved in 2017 with financial assets exceeding liabilities for the first time in quite a few years,” said Hendricks. “The accumulated surplus grew to $95.2 million, which was an increase from $91.7 [million] the year before.”

A large part of the accumulated surplus comes from tangible capital assets, which includes infrastructure like land improvements, buildings, water and sewer systems, and the municipality’s means of transportation.

While Hendricks says the City of Kimberley is doing well overall financially, infrastructure continues to be a concern.

“We had a report done a few years ago that indicated that our infrastructure deficit is $73 million – that’s an indicator that we need to invest a bunch of money into our capital assets to get it up to where it should be. It’s always a struggle investing sufficient funding to keep ahead of the maintenance curve on things like roads, water, and sewer.”

The city, however, does look to make some significant progress on water and sewer infrastructure.

Early planning is underway for a new first-of-its-kind wastewater treatment plant in the community.

“In 2020, we’ve got $34 million budgeted to construct that. We’re hoping that we’re going to get some grant funding of $28 million to help with that. In 2018, we’re actually undertaking a process of preliminary design of the wastewater treatment facility.”

Over the next few years, Hendricks says Kimberley is in a fairly good position, adding that the municipality will continue to invest heavily into its core infrastructure assets.

Source: Summit107