CBT releases 2012/13 annual report

Learn more about Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) and the activities it supports through its 2012/13 Annual Report. The Annual Report reflects CBT's performance for the year ending March 31, 2013, and details its financial investments, spending, and program and initiative activities.

The report's theme, Evolving and Empowering, reflects how CBT has recently evolved by placing more resources in the hands of communities, supporting them as they make their own choices on issues that affect their futures and empowering them to see those choices result in positive outcomes. This approach allows CBT to be more strategic in how it supports communities in their efforts to address priorities.

"We've always had programs and initiatives that place decision making in the hands of communities, but have recently been expanding this approach to other areas," said Greg Deck, CBT board chair. "We continue to look at implementing this approach wherever it makes sense, and are eager to get more communities on board."

In 2012/13, CBT returned a record $19.3 million in funding benefits to Basin communities-11.6 per cent higher than in the previous year. Total revenues were $25.7 million, an increase of $2.7 million over 2011/12, primarily due to greater revenue from two of CBT's power project facilities.

"Our ability to deliver benefits to the Columbia Basin is attributable to CBT's strong financial position," said Neil Muth, CBT president and CEO. "We expect this strength to continue in the coming years."

The Annual Report is posted online.

Annual Report — 2012/13 Highlights

In 2012/13, CBT returned a record $19.3 million in funding benefits to Basin communities-11.6 per cent higher than in 2011/12-including the following programs and initiatives:

• Water and Environment Initiatives $6,211,000
• Social Initiatives $5,523,000
• Community Development Initiatives $3,583,000
• Economic Initiatives $2,754,000
• Youth Initiatives $1,206,000

Over the course of the year, CBT:

• continued Community Directed Funds, which supports communities as they make their own choices on issues that affect their futures and empowers them to see those choices result in positive outcomes;

• continued Community Directed Youth Funds, a six-year, $2.25-million program in which communities receive $100,000 over four years to increase activities, opportunities and services for youth;

• continued the Social Grants Program, a three-year, $3-million program that provides grants to projects that support social well-being and address social issues;

• committed $3 million to the Kootenay-Koocanusa Fish and Wildlife Program, which will help protect and enhance fish, wildlife and habitats in and around Koocanusa Reservoir and its tributaries;

• contributed $560,000 to College of the Rockies toward purchasing the latest mining haul truck simulators, which will enable Basin residents to train to work in the Kootenays' thriving mining sector;

• had the first call for proposals under the three-year, $10-million Affordable Rental Housing initiative, a partnership with BC Housing;

• delivered the first year of a $4.5-million, three-year commitment to the student wage subsidy programs School Works and Summer Works;

• supported projects that help maintain or enhance environmental conditions and provide educational information in and around their communities with $1 million through the Environmental Initiatives Program; and

• made progress on laying a foundation for bringing broadband to the Basin through the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation, a CBT subsidiary created to develop a world-class open-access broadband network across the Basin.