Summer Games duties to have impact on Bay Roberts budget
By Mark Squibb
December 1, 2023 Edition
The Town of Bay Roberts is set to adopt Budget 2024 in under two weeks, and Mayor Walter Yetman said staff and council are busy working through the process to get ready for the big day.
Like any town, Bay Roberts is tasked with trying to do the things everyone wants with the money it has, a task that can prove challenging, especially given today’s financial climate.
“The bottom line is, everyone is feeling the effects of high inflation and the high cost of doing anything, the high cost of living, the high cost of running a community,” said Yetman. “So, you have to try and do the things you want to do with what you have. Everyone is in the same situation. Our projects, any work we’re doing within the town, any multi-year capital works projects, those costs, those increased costs, are still coming back to us. And it’s a challenge. We’re trying to do it with relatively the same revenue that we’ve had.”
Council and town staff began budget discussions about a month ago.
“When we started the process, our CAO went to each department head and asked for their input, their proposed budgets for next year, and then he compiles all those numbers, he compiles this year’s numbers up to date to give a comparison, and then we all get together and run down through each department,” said the mayor.
Yetman could not share any specific information regarding the budget as the document itself is still a work in progress, but he did allow preparations for the 2024 Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games, which are to be hosted by Bay Roberts, will be taken into account in this year’s budget.
“So, that has an impact on the budget,” said Yetman. “It’s a commitment that we’re glad to make, of course, and it will be a positive thing for the town. It was supposed to happen back in 2020, but then of course because of the COVID pandemic they had to cancel it. But that’s one thing that’s impacting our budget discussions, but it’s going to be a positive thing for our town, and we’re glad to make the commitment, and we have an excellent, excellent, Games committee in place, who are working well with us and our new Recreation Director Dave Tibbo. They’re doing a wonderful job helping us through this process.”