City hall has written off more than $1 million in pledges to the Downtown Facility and Field House (DFFH) project, as auditors have said collecting that much from community groups is impossible.
As of Dec. 31, 2018, the municipality had received $8,569,644.10 for the DFFH project, leaving $1,530,355.90 outstanding, according to a report presented during city council’s April 22 regular meeting.
The report was produced in response to an inquiry from Coun. Brian Swanson during the Feb. 25 meeting.
At that time, he asked how much had been collected for the DFFH project; what provisions had been made for uncollectable donations; how much remained to be collected and when that would happen; what the status is of Moose Jaw Soccer’s pledge given its original promise; and how much has been collected from that organization.
With uncollected donations, auditor Deloitte LLP deemed that only the money pledged by the Moose Jaw Warriors was collectible, the report said. The remainder of the pledges was written off in 2015 for a total write-off of $1,079,405.90. Since then, $149,050 has been collected.
The municipality had yet to receive $600,000 from the Warriors, although that amount is expected to be received in full. The report noted all other amounts are doubtful and only a small portion would be received.
Moose Jaw Soccer’s original pledge to the project was $30,000 every year for 25 years for a total of $750,000. The director of parks and recreation contacted the organization and was informed it would submit an updated pledge amount soon. The new pledge amount is expected to be smaller than the annual original pledge.
So far the municipality has received five years’ worth of pledges from Moose Jaw Soccer for $150,000. Three years ago the organization gave $7,550 and two years ago it gave $6,500, while nothing was given last year. The total given has been $164,050.
The next council meeting is Monday, May 13.
