Town releases 2022 annual report
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Town of Strathmore, in compliance with the Municipal Government Act (MGA), has released its annual report for 2022, presenting an overview of its financial statements.
Each municipality is required to develop an annual report, which is submitted to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Scott Garnett, the Town’s marketing coordinator, said the report is a comprehensive representation of the previous year for the town.
“It is a good representation of all the things that the town is up to at any given year … it is our stats, our performance metrics and our highlights,” he said. “We store a lot of data at the town … and we work hard every day to keep track of the things that we do because we are accountable to the public and we want to make sure that they know they are in good hands and we are working hard for their tax dollars.”
The report also details the town’s organizational structure both in regards to council, as well as its operational departments.
Producing the document, Garnett added, was a collaborative effort between the marketing and communications team, himself, and the finance team, with data contributions from across the town’s departments.
“Our five-year financials are in there, so you can see our performance every year and how we are doing with the town’s finances. Those are in the back and they can be pretty dry sometimes, but we make it available,” said Garnett. “You do not really think about it every day – you think about the road you drive on, the lights being on and the cul-de-sac you live in and the pool you swim in, but there are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes and a lot of operational things and numerical data that adds up very quickly. We like to keep track of it and it shows the complexity of the town.”
The town’s Statistics Canada census profile is also included within the report, which was initially created by the federal government and skimmed down to simply present information specific to the Town of Strathmore.
Ultimately, he explained, the town is a “creature of the province” and must be maintained at minimum according to their standards set out within the Municipal Government Act in order to continue to exist as an incorporated municipality.
The annual report document for 2022 is made publicly available through the town’s website. Anyone who may have questions may get in touch with the town’s communications team and will be directed to the proper department to be answered appropriately.