The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is seeing some smooth sailing financially, with operating revenues at 112 per cent of budgeted amounts at the end of the third quarter of 2023, and operating expenditures at 98 per cent.
In a presentation to council on Jan. 9, the RMOW’s chief financial officer, Carlee Price, shared the preliminary, unaudited numbers for the municipality up to Sept. 30, 2023, and said Whistler’s economy was doing well, which was translating into revenues for the RMOW.
“[The] third quarter was a continuation of healthy activities in the local economy,” she said.
“This is true both for the tourism economy, which has been the case for several quarters now including the post-pandemic period, and also becoming increasingly true for activity in the local community.”
Price said revenues for the RMOW were reflecting the rosy outlook for the tourism sector.
“The tourism sector [showed] continued strength from the first half into the third quarter. Revenues from both RMI and MRDT (driven by overnight hotel stays) were strong, as well as day skier parking. which is driven by day visitors, primarily to the mountain in the summer and winter.”
The poor start to the 23-24 ski season put a slight damper on that, however.
“There were some signs of weakness in the fourth quarter driven not in small part by the conditions on the mountain; however, we don’t believe at this time that those weaknesses are likely to derail the entire year,” Price said.
Besides those visitor-driven revenues, Price also noted there were indicators community activity was also gaining steam, with increased visits to the Meadow Park Sports Centre (proven by increased revenues from user fees), and increased transit ridership, which has been on the rise since the first half of the year, and is expected to continue going up.
Another indicator of a healthy economic landscape was how busy the building department was in the first nine months of 2023—according to the staff report, the building department generated revenues that were 65 per cent ahead of levels for the same period in 2022.
“Included in 2023 amounts are a number of individual high-value permits, which tend to be very intermittent through the years,” reads the report. “The demand for building permits currently outstrips the capacity of existing Building Department staff, and the 2024 budget includes significant planned growth for this department. This growth is expected to ease wait times and improve overall service delivery, with full costs of implementation for the expanded department expected to be paid by permit applicants.”
In her presentation, Price said operating expenditures for the RMOW were tracking within expectations, within five per cent of what each department was budgeted, but she noted some expenses would trend higher with higher revenues, such as bank processing fees associated with parking revenues, and solid waste fees from removing more garbage from the community.
Looking at projects, Price said project delivery was accelerating at the end of Q3.
“This has been a goal of the organization for a few quarters now, if not years. The goal here is to deliver important capital projects to the community in a way that aligns with what we describe in the budget,” she said.
“Third-quarter project spending for the RMOW was quite strong—this is true when measured in dollars and also true when measured in per cent complete.”
In the first nine months of 2023, the RMOW spent $21.4 million on its various endeavours, which include three multi-year, multi-million-dollar projects: the Public Safety Building (including the Annex trailer), Rainbow Park, and the South Whistler Water supply project. All three are expected to continue into 2024.
Price also highlighted good progress on wastewater infrastructure spending, with the total amount spent on what is a six-year project plan getting close to $50 million worth of investment and upgrades.
Finally, Price noted the RMOW’s investment portfolio was benefiting from high interest rates, with 90 per cent of investment income credited into reserves. She added, however, that with the Bank of Canada considering rate cuts, the RMOW could see lower returns in 2024 if it follows through.
In the first nine months of 2023, the RMOW benefited from $3,253,577 in investment income.
The full third-quarter financial report can be read on the RMOW website.
