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Governing Ourselves

eVote 2006

Reports


eVote 2006: Results | Regional | System | Category | Invitation to apply | Chair & Vice-chair

Reports: Council | College appointments | 2007 budget | Bill 52 | Atkinson scholar | TQR | Professionally Speaking | Investigations | Dispute Resolution | Hearings

2007 budget

Council locks in fee at $104

The College annual membership fee remains fixed at $104 for the third straight year following Council's approval of the College's 2007 budget.

At its September meeting Council approved operating expenses of $28,076,000, operating revenues of $26,881,000 and capital and deferred charges of $736,000.

Maintaining the membership fee at $104 fulfills a three-year plan Council adopted in 2004. While the College still projects a deficit in 2007 it won't be as deep as originally thought. The College has benefited from higher than expected revenues, mostly from increases in membership and applications for registration, and continuing controls on spending.

Records show that more members are retaining their teaching licences longer, whether they actually teach or not after retirement. At the same time more people are applying to become teachers in Ontario.

Judging by recent growth the College can expect to surpass 212,000 members in 2007. However, Council set target revenues for the budget based on a conservative projection of 210,000 members next year.

When Council began its three-year budgeting cycle in 2004, the estimated deficit for 2007 was $3.285 million. Instead, the 2007 budget projects a deficit of only $1.195 million. The difference is wholly attributable to changes in revenue forecast; the expense budgets are very close to those predicted in 2004.

The 2007 budget represents a 3.5 per cent increase in expenses over the 2006 budget with many budget lines at 2006 levels or reduced. Four staff positions have been added to accommodate increasing workloads in evaluation, policy, communications and library services. Budget lines for the Discipline and Fitness to Practise committees have been adjusted upwards to reflect a trend to more hearings. Council and committee budgets provide for the compensation and living costs for a full-time Council chair.

By separate motion, and flowing from the higher than expected revenues, Council directed the transfer of $4 million from the reserve for fee stabilization to the reserve for stabilization of facility costs. The move positions the College to eventually invest in the purchase of a permanent facility – and avoid volatile commercial property rents – when the College's current lease expires in 2012.