Bermuda College is striving to bring its annual financial statement up to date before next spring as it prepares to seek re-accreditation.

Education Minister Grant Gibbons yesterday tabled the school’s 2006 to 2009 Audited Financial Statements stating that the College was working with the Office of the Auditor General to complete the financial statements up to 2014 by next March, when the school will be visited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

“The next re-accreditation site visit to the Bermuda College is scheduled for March 22 to 25, 2015,” Dr Gibbons said. “In preparation for this site visit, a temporary accountant was hired in June 2013 to work exclusively on the audits with the Office of the Auditor General to ensure all audits of the financial statements are achieved.

“To-date the 2006 to 2009 annual financial statements have been completed. Outstanding audits for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 have all started, and are either in the fieldwork, initial review or final stage. It should be noted that the computer information system at the Bermuda College only allows two fiscal year accounts to be open and worked on simultaneously. Therefore, once the audits for the years 2010 and 2011 are completed, the audit for fiscal year 2013 can commence.”

Dr Gibbons explained that the delay in the audits was caused because a former Auditor General suspended audits until an investigation of the 2003 lease of the Coco Beach Resort property had been conducted.

“Some Honourable members of the House may recall that the report on the lease was tabled in the House of Assembly in 2008, and consequently no audits were completed during that four-year period,” Dr Gibbons said. “The reasons for the lateness of these financial statements continue as once the investigation of the lease was completed, the Bermuda College Board of Governors requested that the audits be outsourced as the Office of the Auditor General was not in a position to prioritise completing the audits.

“This request was denied by the previous Auditor General and it was not until a new Auditor General was appointed when the Board of Governors resubmitted its request which was then approved.

“Subsequently in 2010, a private accounting firm was contracted that successfully completed the 2006 and 2007 audits and partially completed the 2008 and 2009 audits before its contract was terminated. The auditing of the financial accounts was brought back in house and the 2008 and 2009 were finally completed.”

Regarding the tabled financial statements, he said at the conclusion of the 2009 audited year, the college had total assets worth $32,387,627 and total liabilities of $27,314,672. However, he noted that the implementation of free tuition in the Fall of 2008 resulted in a deficiency of revenue over expenses by $566,339.

He also noted that while the lease of the Coco Reef Resorts property requires the resort to pay the college 20 percent of gross annual profits from May 2003 onward in addition to its base yearly rate, the resort reported gross operating losses during the period audited.