Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s latest draft audited financial statements, which are about a year behind schedule, show CBRM ended the 2024-25 fiscal year with a $4.6-million surplus.
But the municipality’s audit committee chair isn’t optimistic about the most recent year-end results, which still haven’t been completed but are expected in about two months.
“Am I happy that there’s a surplus? Yeah,” Deputy Mayor Glenn Paruch said after an audit committee meeting Wednesday.
“Do I think we’re going to have the same type of good-news story when we talk again in November? No, I don’t.”
The 2025-26 fiscal year ended March 31, but CBRM staff have not produced even a draft financial statement for the year.
However, staff did present a financial statement in the August council meeting agenda for the first three months of this fiscal year.
Paruch says he’s concerned about the 2025-26 year-end results, because CBRM instituted a spending freeze in the spring and then council passed a budget with spending increases across the board. (Tom Ayers/CBC)
The last one before that was the February monthly financial statement presented to council in April.
It showed with one month to go in the 2025-26 fiscal year, CBRM’s revenues were short by nearly $800,000 and expenses were over budget by $7 million.
At the time, CBRM instituted a freeze on discretionary spending, although finance staff in the past have said year-end results can sometimes take several months, waiting for all revenues to be recorded and all invoices to be received.
Paruch said he’s concerned about the final year-end numbers, though, because council approved this year’s budget with increased spending across the board, despite considering it a bare-bones budget.
“We talked about a freeze. We talked about a keep-the-lights-on budget, but then you go and you look at the budget that we passed … and every department was up, so we have mixed messaging,” Paruch said.
Officials say the delayed financial statements are because the top two finance department staffers are new to the job.
CBRM’s chief financial officer and the manager of finance both quit and were replaced in 2025, which meant audited financial statements were not completed on time.
Nancy Dove became the new CFO at the end of that year and has been playing catch-up ever since.
She says staff are getting a handle on the financial statements, but Paruch said there’s also some concern about the impact of the delays on CBRM’s revenues.
CBRM ‘managing through cash flow’
Dove said some provincial financing is now being held back because this year’s audited statements are not done yet, but so far that hasn’t affected CBRM operations.
“We’re managing through our cash flow at this point, so we’re doing good there,” she said. “We’re monitoring that on a day-to-day basis.”
Dove and the municipality’s independent auditor told the committee they expect last year’s financials will be ready in about two months.
Dove said staff expect CBRM’s overall financial reporting will be back on track by then.
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