Around 25 people – just barely enough to form a quorum – took in the meeting at Mosaic Place, hearing that despite a loss of $165,145 over the past fiscal year the team is in solid shape when it comes to their financials.
Overall, the Warriors showed a net revenue of $371,850, including $27,063 from their two playoff games at home against the Saskatoon Blades. The overall intake was largely off-set by the team paying half the cost for the installation of new boards and glass at a cost of $233,648, to go along with the team’s annual $200,000 commitment to the Multiplex – the eighth of 10 annual payments – and a contribution of $114,472.90 to the education fund.
“Some of that stuff we tried to expense last year but couldn’t just with the way the bills came in,” Taylor said. “So we knew this was going to happen 12 months ago, it was anticipated we were going to see a loss.”
While that might be bad news if the team was in dire straits, the actual situation is anything but – the Warriors currently carry a bank balance of $1,134,566.05 with a further $264,319.99 in the education fund.
“It’s been great,” Taylor said. “I have a great board, Alan (Millar) our general manager has done a great job running the organization for the community, we’re fiscally responsible and I think we’re among the leaders in the WHL today. At the end of the day we have our challenges but we take them and manage them and things are good.”
The number of people at the meeting was a sign of that sentiment, especially compared to years past when hundreds would attend the Warriors AGM and often see a contentious meeting.
“I’m always looking for transparency and people want to know how their hockey club operates, so I’d always welcome more, but at the end of the day it shows that there’s trust out there and they’re happy with the way we operate the club,” Taylor said.
A question raised during the meeting was what the team’s plans are for the $200,000 Multiplex payment after the 2020-21 season completes their pledged commitment to the project.
“That’ll be a topic for the board at that time when the payments are all done, but I think we’re open to looking at partnerships with the facility to see if there are things that could be enhanced for the fans and the players,” Taylor said. “We’re always looking at that stuff, but you take it one year at a time and at the end of the day we have to make sure we’re honouring our commitment to the league and making sure that the education fund is taken care of as well.”
Three spots were open for election on the board of directors, but with only three filing for the position, Scott Wray, Kelvin Bradford and Tom Hansen were elected by acclamation.
