The Prince George Public Library ran a deficit of $266,704 in 2024 after budgeting for a $275,454 surplus, according to documents presented to the city’s Standing Committee on Finance and Audit on Wednesday, May 7.
Financial statements show that while revenues ended up being $186,561 greater than expected in the budget, expenses were $728,719 beyond what was anticipated.
The largest contributing factor to those extra expenses were $376,354 paid out in amortization — paying off debts or loans.
Another factor was salaries being $177,159 more than was budgeted for. Presenting the documents to the committee with Corey Naphtali of accounting firm KPMG, who said that there was a two per cent wage increase in 2024 as well as an increase of two full-time equivalent positions.
A note provided in the financial statements states that “amortization was not contemplated on development of the budget and, as such, has not been included.”
The annual deficit was covered by the library’s accumulated surplus, which decreased from around $1.58 million at the end of 2023 to around $1.32 million at the end of 2024.
The 2024 deficit was also bigger than the 2023 deficit, which came in at $61,924.
At the end of 2024, the library had total financial assets worth around $1.1 million and liabilities worth $781,233, for a net position of $307,845. That’s down from $517,631 at the end of 2023.
The library also has total non-financial assets like capital assets and prepaid expenses worth just over $1 million.
