Tantramar civic centres annual operating costs on the rise

Operating costs for the local civic centre were higher than ever before in 2008.
But that fact didn't come as a huge surprise to members of Sackville town council, who say that more staff and higher expenses are required to run the day-to-day operations of the expanded year-round facility.
Coun. Virgil Hammock said he wasn't surprised to learn that costs have been increasing since the town took over operation of the rink from the civic centre board two years ago.
"Sure, $190,000 is a lot of money but that's the cost of doing business," he said.
Hammock said town officials have never anticipated the Tantramar Veterans' Memorial Civic Centre would be a revenue-generator.
"There is a substantial cost involved in running a municipal rink," he said. "That being said, however, we do need to ensure we continue to find ways to bring in revenue."
Coun. John Higham, who served as chair of the civic centre board before the town took over operations of the arena, said the manner in which the facility was operated before May 2007 should not be compared to the way it's running now.
The facility is now fully staffed and open daily all year-round, with an expanded parks and recreation department using the building for various programs, so "we can't really compare one to the other," he said.
Higham said while serving on the civic centre board, he conducted research into the operating costs of other facilities and Sackville, even years later, is still well below the deficit ($230,000 annual average) shown by other rinks of similar size.
"It's still doing far better than other rinks in the region."
Sackville's treasurer Michael Beal said the higher operating costs for 2008 can be attributed to an increase in staff salaries, higher electricity rates, and ongoing maintenance and repair work, including electrical upgrades.