Treasurer's ReportFor the year of 2010 For the year ending December 31, 2010 National Capital Freenet is reporting a deficit of $33,199. This is the second consecutive year of deficits for NCF. Two years ago when the Board of Directors approved the annual budget for 2009, there was a conscious decision to spend $13,653 from the Reserve Fund. This past year has brought new challenges with the weak economy and changing IT environment combined with staff turnover and hardware issues. With an unrestricted reserve fund balance of only $33,686, as at December 31, 2010 the organisation has very little room for another deficit. As mentioned in last years report there is a fine balance that must be maintained in any not for profit organization when it comes to maintaining a Reserve Fund. Having funds sit idly provides no benefit to the organization while uncontrolled spending may have serious consequences should the organization run into unplanned hardship. There will have to be a concerted effort in 2011 to operate with a surplus. There is no more room in the reserves for another deficit. The Board and Management have struggled over the past year with the question of raising rates but to date the decision has been to maintain the current rate structure. However, the feeling is that with the improved hardware infrastructure, and new staff and volunteers trained and working at optimal levels, 2011 will be a better year financially speaking and the reserve funds will be modestly replenished. As in past years, in spite of all the challenges, National Capital Freenet will continue to offer competitive pricing and work hard to make internet and e-mail access available for all who request it. Again we would like to thank our members for their generous contributions in volunteering their valuable time, without their generosity we would not be able to continue to provide the level of local service that sets us apart from other internet providers. The contributions in both time and cash have also enabled us to operate on a very tight and cost effective budget. We hope that their contributions will continue, even more now than ever, so that we can build a financially stable environment that will enable us to continue to provide reliable and affordable services. Alan McRae |