A new approach

Looking for savings

Year after year, budgets come and go—yet one constant remains: the cost of local government keeps rising. The tax levy has risen 4.7 times since the County was amalgamated in 1998—a growth rate of over 6 per cent every year since then. Faster than the cost of living, many times faster than the population, which has remained largely unchanged in 25 years.

Now, one council member wants his colleagues to consider budgets differently.

Sophiasburgh councillor Bill Roberts, last week, sought support for a proposal to find a 10 per cent savings to next year’s budget. Rather than wait for budgets to happen to them, Councillor Roberts is looking for a more interactive and collaborative approach to the funding of the County.

Specifically, he wants to understand how a budget cut would impact services, operations and residents. What does cutting service delivery look like? He wants to understand these pressures better without the constant ticking of a budget clock pushing them toward a deadline.

“Let’s talk specifics,” said Roberts. “Let’s see if we can reduce our 2024 operating budget by 10 per cent—or $3 million—from this year’s budget. And what would it take to achieve that and do that in a collaborative way with senior staff.”

Roberts said that understanding these metrics and the pressures driving the municipal budget, coupled with regular reporting of performance indicators, would help Council remain focused on governance and avoid detours down unproductive rabbit holes.

“A metric is there to help us learn and improve,” said Roberts. “It is not there to judge and to blame.”

The motion comes after the 2023 operating budget ballooned to $71.6 million from the $66.7 million budgeted last year. The result was a 7.9 per cent rise in the tax levy for 2023.

Councillor John Hirsch acknowledged that Council sometimes gets bogged down at budget time.

“It’s a laudable goal to see if we can find some new ways to reduce our expenditures,” said Hirsch. “As a veteran now of five budgets, we always seem to find that we get to that point and really if we are honest, we spend budget week nibbling at the edges. That is not the time to be setting important direction.”

But Councillor Janice Maynard was uneasy about the direction this proposal was taking Council. Maynard suggested the only way to reduce the budget is to cut service levels—something she is averse to considering.

Maynard also warned that inflation would magnify any budget reduction.

“To get a 10 per cent reduction, considering we are still in the five per cent inflationary rate, and maybe with really good luck, maybe we get to four per cent by the end of the year, the ten per cent will be compounded,” cautioned Maynard.

Roberts asked his Council colleagues to stay focused on the broader goal—rather than descend down another hole.

“Where we land is an agreed expectation,” responded Roberts. “It is part of the discussion we should expect if this motion passes. I am not prejudging. And I don’t think any of us should prejudge when we ask the CAO to come back with creative solutions. I look forward to that discussion.”

In the end, the motion passed unanimously, including Councillor Maynard’s vote. The report is expected come to council this summer.