$1,683,992 What the district itself says is available for future operations

The district's audited statements for the year ended 30 June 2026 show $2,883,992 of unrestricted operating surplus. The district's own Financial Statement Discussion and Analysis then sets $1,200,000 aside as a financial provision under board surplus policy, and prints $1,683,992 as the unrestricted surplus available for future operations. This year's budget appropriates $2,532,639, which is roughly $849,000 more than that. The district has budgeted conservatively and finished ahead of budget for years, which is good management. My point is only that the next board should not count on that continuing. The budget spends $56.0 million against $53.5 million of revenue, and funded enrolment is down 105 students, so less money is coming in from the province.

SD46 audited financial statements 2025-26; Financial Statement Discussion and Analysis 2025-26, page 8; 2026-27 annual budget

A correction on the reserve figure. Updated 7 October 2026.

My postcards, and until this week this website, said the district had roughly $95,000 left in operating reserve. That number came from the board's own budgets. The 2025-26 amended budget projected the accumulated operating surplus would fall to $2,627,147 by June 2026, and the 2026-27 budget appropriates $2,532,639 of it. Subtract one from the other and you get $94,508. That was a projection, not an audited result, and I should have said so more clearly.

The audited financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2026, published on 6 September, show a different result. The drawdown projected for 2025-26 did not happen. The district finished the year with an operating surplus and its accumulated operating surplus rose to $6,231,085, of which $2,883,992 is unrestricted. After the district's own $1.2 million financial provision, it reports $1,683,992 as available for future operations. This year's budget appropriates $2,532,639 against that.

The $95,000 figure is out of date and I have withdrawn it. The audited figures are the ones to rely on, and they are the ones now used on this site. The underlying point stands: the budget spends more than it brings in and covers the difference from savings.

I want to be clear about one more thing. I never intended the figure as a criticism of the current board or its staff, and if it came across that way, I apologize. It was meant as a snapshot of what lies ahead if the district has to keep spending more than it brings in. The trustees and staff who manage this budget do difficult work, and the decision to budget conservatively is part of why the audited result is better than the projection. The next board still has to close the gap, and that is the conversation I want to have.