NRRM reports struggles to match budget projections in 2024 financial statement

FORT NELSON, B.C. — The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) has released its list of expenses for last year.

At the October 14th council meeting, NRRM staff submitted the 2024 statement of financial information (SOFI) for approval.

Like all corporations, the NRRM is required to disclose information regarding its finances following the end of each fiscal year under the Financial Information Act.

According to the 40-page SOFI document, NRRM’s mayor and councillors were paid $175,330 in salary during the year ending December 31st, 2024. The highest-paid among them was mayor Rob Fraser, who earned a salary of $44,050.

NRRM council also accrued $46,159 in expenses over the course of the year, with Fraser accounting for the most – $24,166, or roughly 52 per cent of all council expenses for the year.

The document also indicates $9,849,886 was spent on employee remuneration over the course of the year. 

Unlike with councillors, employee remuneration doesn’t just cover salary: the document says it also includes payouts for things like unspent vacation days and travel grants.

The highest-paid individual employee was chief administrative officer Scott Barry, who earned $251,439. Employee expenses totaled $142,407, with Krista Vandersteen from the regional development department accruing the most of any individual employee listed at $9,916.

The NRRM reportedly made $42,838,637 in total revenues in 2024. That’s $2.377 million more than projected in the municipal budget for the year, and an increase of $5.158 million over the total revenues for 2023.

However, the municipality also had $38,761,808 in expenses in 2024, $4.357 million more than what was budgeted for and $5.759 more than in 2023.

Ultimately, that means the district had an operating surplus of $4,076,829 for 2024, about $600,000 less than in 2023 and nearly $2,000,000 lower than what was projected in the annual budget.

Council voted in favor of approving the SOFI document, which will now be submitted to the minister of municipal affairs in compliance with the Financial Information Act.

To view the full document, look below.