The budgeting process has two major steps. The first is the development of the provisional budget. Development of the budget starts early in the New Year. Directorates at NLG, Village Governments, Urban Locals and national institutions prepare their plans and budgets. They meet with the Nisg-a’a Finance Committee to present and discuss their plans and finances. The Finance Committee puts these plans together to develop a national budget. It’s an very involved process—this year’s budget went thru 8 revisions.

The Nation’s financial year runs from April 1 to March 31. The provisional budget must be completed and approved by WSN no later than March 31.

The provisional budget reflects the best understanding of needs, opportunities and financing available at the time. Over the year things will change - new opportunities will, for example, become available. The provisional budget recognizes this reality and provides the Nation with the flexibility it needs to be most effective. It is not, therefore, necessary that the provisional budget be balanced. The provisional budget can include a deficit.

The second major step in the budgeting process is the completion of the final budget. The final budget must be balanced. A process similar to that used to develop the provisional budget is followed. The final budget must be approved by WSN by October 31.

This year’s provisional budget totals $76,444,141. This is an increase of just over 3% compared to last year. The provisional budget projects a deficit $2,001,081. This deficit will be eliminated when the final budget is prepared this fall.

While a 3% increase is relatively small there are some significant changes and initiatives in this budget:

• total funding to the Villages increased by $1,651,841 (almost 9.5%);
• total funding to the Urban locals increased by almost 12 percent;
• for the first time the budget includes a transfer of almost $500,000 from the collection of Social Services taxes;
• just over $640,000 is being provided to the Villages for employment initiatives;
• over $830,000 is allocated to Villages and Urban Locals for Community Preventative Services;
• the total allocation to the Villages for their Head Start programs is just over $428,000;
• funding to Youth Councils in Villages and Urban Locals totalling almost $110,000;
• a total of $3,161,505 is available in the Economic Development fund.

The provisional budget explicitly commits funds to a wide range of activities which will improve the quality of life for our citizens across the Nation.