REGINA - The Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL) potential budget for 2025 was a big topic during Wednesday’s city council meeting.
REAL is seeking over $12.7 million from the city, which is broken down into different parts.
Over $4.2 million is for their annual operating grant, which covers their financial losses in the 2025 budget. REAL is expecting to make a revenue of over $41 million, while expenses like utilities, labour, repairs, etc. will cost over $45 million.
The $4.2 million will go towards their community sports program, entertainment and events, major agriculture events, and tenant management of the Regina Pats, Sask. Roughriders and more.
For the annual debt funding, REAL is seeking $2.7 million. Over 1.2 million of that is aimed towards three debts that REAL is currently paying off, valued altogether at $14.7 million, which includes $7.3 million, $4 million and $3.4 million. For this year, REAL plans to pay off nearly $1.3 million of the combined debts.
The other approximate $1.4 million comes from paying off the interest from said debts.
Another $4.8 million is for the capital funding that REAL uses to cover emergency costs.
The last part is $1 million for ongoing capital investment into property. The Brandt Centre, Co-operators Centre and Queensbury Centre will need constant capital funding over the next four years (approximately $10 million) to repair the aging infrastructure of each building.
REAL noted each of the building's mechanical systems "are beyond [their] use for life."
"If any of these mechanical systems fail during an event, there are significant revenue and reputational risks not only to REAL but to the City [of Regina]," they added.
The Brandt Centre and Queensbury Centre would get $300,000 in allocated funding for 2025. Additionally, REAL would invest over $300,000 of ongoing capital investment into refreshing their hardware and IT software upgrades
The rest of the capital investment would go towards the Ag Ex Pavilion Building and contingency plans.
REAL is also planning to use the funding towards the expansion of user pay parking, reimagining signature events, increasing the utilization of multiple facilities, adding naming rights and revisiting commercial development opportunities.
Potential cuts
With the worry councillors have heard from their residents regarding increased taxes for 2025, there was lots of discussion regarding how REAL can reduce their budget.
Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo brought up a question regarding whether REAL could potentially use assets the city already has, like software licences or graders, that could reduce the costs of REAL’s budget.
Responding to Bezo, Roberta Engel, acting CEO of REAL, said, "absolutely. I think there is [an] opportunity not only on software and hardware… cost sharing or, you know, utilizing the same system that the city uses. But also utilizing the fleet."
Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores also asked if there were any budget costs REAL could feasibly reduce.
Engel mentioned their $1 million ask for ongoing capital investment or the $4.2 million request for their annual operating grant could be reduced.
However, with multiple buildings close to failure, Engel said decreased funding could lead to REAL "小蓝视频 back in front of [city] council [again] asking for emergency capital funding even if it’s in the dollar value of $400,000 or $500,000."
She also mentioned operating costs are so variable, that depending on whether REAL has great revenue from events, they could look at continuing to reduce costs. But, that could potentially impact the right service levels that are needed for the community.
Council voted 10-1 in favour of referring the motion to budget week. It’s worth noting that this doesn’t mean REAL’s portion of the budget is set, as councillors will look extensively through the budget to see if any cost savings are achievable.
Mayor’s thoughts
Mayor Chad Bachynski met with reporters, where he talked about the 2025 budget. 'Yeah, it's a big number. We have a number of big asks in front of us this year. REAL is no different."
Bachynski noted taking a very practical approach to what the city spends on without "seeing hockey games cancelled and soccer [games] cancelled, [which] reduce the services that we provide to our residents."
When asked about the $10 million in funding REAL needs over the next four years to cover the cost of the Brandt Centre, Co-operators Centre and Queensbury Centre, Bachynski said, "I think it highlights a common theme that we saw for a number of years that we didn't invest in infrastructure that we needed. [So], I think we really need to think hard about how much longer we can bypass that."
