Efficiencies

Council directs staff to find ways to cut costs for the 2020 budget

At Thursday’s Committee of the Whole, Ameliasburgh councillor Andreas Bolik put forth a motion looking for staff to examine the upcoming 2020 budget, and find efficiencies to try and save up to 10 per cent.

Currently, County taxpayers pay roughly $38.5 million in property taxes. The tax levy—the amount of the County budget property taxpayers fund—rose 8.62 per cent in 2019. This was a $3 million increase in one year, the largest dollar increase in the history of the County. The budget included nearly $2 million for new trucks, a special levy for roads of $930,000 and $372,000 toward the development of the new hospital in Picton.

When the County was formed after amalgamation in 1998, the tax levy was $10.3 million. It has risen at an average of 6.3 per cent per year ever since. Inflation over this time frame has averaged just 1.87 per cent. This means that cost of local government is consuming an ever-larger portion of residents’ income each year. At this pace, and if not looked at closely, the tax levy will top $50 million by 2024.

Bolik said that the time to think about the upcoming budget is now. “The whole aim is to look at efficiencies. A whopping tax increase next year is not going to fly. It is about a planning exercise in categories of things we must do, things we should do and things that are nice to do. And it’s an exercise about how we do those things. It’s a way of changing the paradigm and shaking it up,” said Bolik.

Acting CAO Robert McAuley cautioned council that the suggested goal of 10 per cent, along with the timeline of having a draft budget and report before council in October, was ambitious and was causing discussion and anxiety among staff. He also told council that there are likely cuts coming from the Provincial government, that could see an aditional five per cent added onto the back of the municipality’s operating budget. “The 10 per cent has to be a goal. In no way can it be an absolute. We are already behind the eight-ball,” said McAuley. “There’s also the magnitude. We’re talking about a $3.8 million reduction. That’s a large reduction and will not be found simply by nibbling at the edges,” said McAuley.

McAuley explained that if there was a redesign of the budget process, council would not see a budget in December as usual, but it would likely be pushed back to February of 2020. He also noted staff is willing to support an objective challenge, and already works on goals of keeping budgets at status-quo. “Our standing orders on budget is always status-quo. Do not increase anything in the budget unless absolutely necessary. Our goal is always a zero per cent increase over last year’s budget. A reduction has been attempted twice, and in my recollection it resulted in a double digit increase in subsequent years,” said McAuley.

Councillor Bolik didn’t believe starting with the previous year’s budget as a baseline was the best practice. “What this is then is not about a cut. It is about a planning exercise. It is to get away from the thought that our staff has been used to for the past decade or more, which is start with what we did for last year’s budget and add to that,” said Bolik. “It’s an exercise of how we deliver services and just because we have done it for 10 years does not mean it’s the best way forward.”

Mayor Steve Ferguson agreed that this is a worthwhile endeavour. “This is effectively something that has never been done in this municipality. It is an opportunity for us to look very closely at the services we offer to our public and visitors and engage the public to determine what they want, what they need and what’s important to them,” said Ferguson.

In the end, council agreed on a friendly amendment of having the first report brought back by the end of October, with other reports to follow, and the 2020 budget being set by the end of February 2020.