After a short stretch of less-bad news in 2011, when costs to Abbotsford taxpayers of the Abbotsford Heat and the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC) dropped from $3.4 Million to $2.8 Million, costs jumped in 2012 to an alarming $3.86 Million according to figures released by the City of Abbotsford.
Since the team’s owners were first guaranteed not to lose money back in 2009, the costs to taxpayers of both the 7,000 seat arena and the attendence-challenged hockey team have risen dramatically.
2009 – $2.608 Million
2010 – $3.413 Million
2011 – $2.834 Million
2012 – $3.86 Million
Total – $12.415 Million
(2013 – $1.7 Million Estimated Hockey Losses = Minimum of $14.115 million in losses so far)
$1.97 million deficit in 2012 – about $100,000 more than the city predicted – while the city also paid nearly $2 million to the Abbotsford Heat in that year, according to the city’s consolidated financial statements which were discussed in an audit and finance committee meeting last week.