Prince George, B.C. - The Chair of the Board of Directors of Initiatives Prince George has issued a statement clarifying the agency's financial bottom line, following comments made during the city's first budget meeting last Wednesday.

 

IPG presented, and city councillors approved, its 2011 budget at that time.  While Initiatives was seeking the same level of funding it had received from the city for the past two years, at just over $1-million dollars, Councillor Cameron Stolz had wanted to defer the request to a later meeting to fully debate whether IPG needed such a large commitment.  Councillor Stolz said IPG had "squirreled away "an $800-thousand dollar surplus. (click here, for previous story)

 

In a letter addressed to Mayor and Council on Friday, IPG Board Chair Glen Wonders says that's simply not true.  Wonders refers to IPG's audited financial statements and says, "The total amount of cash on hand as at December 31, 2009 is $61,106.  There is no other cash sources held by IPG."

Wonders says IPG's 'fund balances' total in 2009 is cumulative and includes the carry-forward balances from 2008.  He says the capital fund represents the unused portion of the building and capital assets held by IPG - those assets are amortized over their estimated useful life and, as a result, the surplus represents that 'remaining useful life'.

 

"Annual amortization of approximately $89,000 is recorded and will eventually deplete this surplus to $0.  This amortization represents the annual usage of the building and other capital assets used by IPG.  The capital fund and the annual amortization represent non-cash items."