The article published in the Advocate on Thursday, Oct. 10, City debt slightly lower at $199.M, quoted myself in a letter I sent to the editor that made me sound like I had no idea what the debt numbers were.
The letter was sent back in January and the numbers I used were based on information released from City Hall at the time.
They were not my numbers.
Let me clear this up.
The $258 million figure was the 2012 year-end assessment as to what Red Deer’s year end debt will be at the end of 2013, this was and still is available online in page 34 of the CFO 2013 capital plan.
The $241 million year end was a re-assessment that was done in April.
The $260 million year-end assessment was done within council chambers during the Aug. 20 mid-year budget review at the 2:19:30 point, and backed up with the advocates own article Regional Transit service to go ahead.
Furthermore the article depicts Red Deer’s tax supported debt as 32 per cent, which would mean that currently only $64 million was tax supported.
However, the 2012 annual report depicts Red Deer’s tax supported debt as $111 million. Only $7 million was paid off between January, and June.
Even if every dollar went to tax-supported debt repayments, that would still place Red Deer at a 52 per cent tax supported debt, 20 per cent higher than the article’s depiction.
I have never been off on the debt numbers I present and have always been transparent at providing any information I can.
Calvin Goulet-Jones
Red Deer