The 2009 District of Squamish has a $400,000 surplus and started to decide where the money should go at Tuesday (April 6) Committee of the Whole meeting.
Coun. Rob Kirkham raised a motion to pay off a $120,000 debt owed to the Squamish Sustainability Corporation, the arms length, wholly owned entity of the District of Squamish. It operates the adventure centre, which acts as a portal for tourism, business development and other projects.
"Paying off debt isn't the most sexy thing to do but it's fiscally responsible," said Coun. Paul Lalli.
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
The District of Squamish also has an operating line of credit with a limit of $456,000 that despite payments and withdrawals over the years, maintains a steady debt of about $300,000.
Kirkham also motioned to put $50,000 towards that debt and lower the limit by the same amount, making the new limit $406,000. It was seconded by Lonsdale and carried unanimously.
Mayor Greg Gardner suggested putting the rest of the money in the surplus towards equipment reserves because amounts listed in the budget are usually based on the most recent purchase.
"So if the last fire truck was replaced ten years ago for $50,000, next time we replace it the cost will likely be about $75,000," said Gardner.
Other suggestions included infrastructure and reducing capital budget but no motions were made.
