The KPMG accountancy firm – acting as the college’s independent auditor – has confirmed that St. Clair has concluded its 2022-23 fiscal year with its sixth consecutive annual budgetary surplus in excess of $20 million.
Like all provincial government agencies, the college operates on a fiscal year of April 1 to March 31.
As of the end of March, according to the KPMG audit that was presented to the college’s Board of Governors during its May meeting, the college had enjoyed 2022-23 revenues totalling $293 million (up from $264 million in the previous year) ... minus expenditures of $255.4 million (up from $232.5 million in 2021-22) ... for a year-end surplus of $37.6 million.
The audit’s finding meshed with the most recent projection presented to the Board by Chief Financial Officer Marc Jones in late-March.
As for how that “profit” will be used ...
Approximately $27 million of it will be put into the school’s long-term reserves – a “rainy day” fund that is designed to provide the school with a year or two of stability and security in the event of any sort of financial crisis or drastic reduction in enrolment.
Meanwhile, on the basis of a recommendation by the administration (that was adopted by the Board of Governors), $10 million of this year’s surplus will be injected into the 2023-24 budget for specific purposes:
• $3 million will be turned over to the college’s Foundation to bolster the school’s scholarship fund; and
• $7 million will be allocated to the school’s Deferred Maintenance fund, to tackle overdue repairs and renovations of various campus buildings and facilities.
