Council holds line on member fees

At its September meeting Council passed the 2006 College budget, holding annual member fees to $104 for the second straight year.

Council approved 2006 College operating revenue of $25,466,000, operating expenses of $27,125,000 and capital and deferred charges of $986,000.

"This is the first year in which there has not been some unexpected development beyond our control to turn our careful planning on its head," Finance Committee Chair Normand Fortin told Council.

He said that 2005 was a critical budget year, in which Council set the annual member's fee at $104, intending to hold the fee steady through 2007 and run budget deficits in each of those three years. Although the fee didn't cover the actual cost of operations, it was believed that reserves accumulated between 2002 and 2004 would make up the difference. College membership has also increased by 10,000 in the last two years.

"The size of the deficit we planned for in 2005 has not materialized," Fortin said, "and we anticipate the situation will be better than was expected for 2006 and 2007."

In March, the College began to set funds aside to buy its own building in 2011 as an investment to protect against volatile commercial property rents. Money is not directly committed in the budget to the project and is only allocated at the end of the fiscal year end.

He said he didn't know what effect the Minister's decision about changes to entry-to-practice requirements for members who have received provisional certificates of qualification would have on College administrative activity and, therefore, the budget.

He also cautioned that changes the Minister makes to College governance that occur after preparations for the next Council election could result in considerable extra costs in 2006.