Gérald Gauthier from the MND accounting firm, presented the 2020 financial audit report for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) during council’s April 28 session. One welcome item of information in the report is a $7.9 million operating surplus left over from the 2020 budget, which UCPR Finance Director Valérie Parisien noted will provide a comfortable cushion for some of the present and future infrastructure and other improvement projects for the counties.
“I think it would be beneficial with respect to our future (planning) engagements,” Parisien said, “and will helps us reduce our financing needs as well.”
Both Parisien and Gauthier noted that the pandemic played a significant role in reducing some of the UCPR’s usual operating expenses during 2020. The UCPR also benefited on the revenue side of its operating budget with extra funding provided by the provincial and federal governments for dealing with extra operating expenses related to the pandemic.
The $7.9 million operating surplus will be shared among the UCPR’s working fund reserve, its public works reserve, and the Prescott-Russell Résidence reserve.
