The Canmore Community Daycare Society is undergoing financial stress as a result of lost grants and increased operational costs and is hoping the municipality will provide relief.
Acting chair for the organization Kyla Conner appeared in front of council last week to detail its financial situation.
Conner said while $22,000 in government funding has been relocated and is lost to the organization, it is the increased and unexpected maintenance and utility costs of the new Roundhouse facility that has resulted in the need to ask for help.
“We see the majority of our problem being the increased costs of the new building,” she said, adding water, sewer and repair and maintenance payments to the municipality are included in that.
The move into the new facility, which did not add any space to the daycare’s operations, was also accompanied with a $200,000 capital repayment loan to the Town of Canmore and $150,000 in new building expenses.
Conner said assistance with $10,000 in water, sewer and snow removal costs and $4,500 in maintenance costs would help the daycare get back on financially solid ground.
“We do feel that with what we are asking for we would be able to stabilize our budget,” she said.
Part of the increased utility costs may have something to do with a malfunction in the facility’s mechanical systems.
“There is something going off there and we are not sure what,” said general manager of municipal infrastructure Gary Buxton. “We suspect the two systems are working against each other and heating and cooling at the same time.
“That we think we can fix.”
Conner added that the community daycare offers affordable child care in the community for families since 1978 and wants to continue that service.
“Given our current financial situation we are concerned that we will not be able to continue to provide the level and breadth of child-care programs that we currently offer,” she said in a letter to council. “We are further concerned about the long-term sustainability of our organization for our children, our families and our community.”
