Aquatera recently acquired the private company, Watchhorn Rentals, through a subsidiary company (see press release). As a shareholder of Aquatera, the City was able to cast a vote on the deal. There was a majority of support on Council, so Mayor Given cast our vote in favour of the deal. I was opposed and thought I'd share why:
First of all, I was not opposed because I thought it was a bad business deal. The fundamentals of the acquired company are solid and the leadership of Aquatera did their due diligence in ensuring the acquisition was not going to expose ratepayers to much risk. I think that going forward Watchorn Rentals will continue to succeed and be a valuable asset to Aquatera. It will provide Aquatera with an additional revenue stream that will translate into higher dividends for shareholders.
So why the heck was I opposed then?
I was opposed to the deal on a matter of principle. I believe there are only a few instances where governments should be competing openly in private markets. While Aquatera is not a government entity, it is wholly-owned by municipalities and has a government-granted monopoly over several public utility services. As such, my rationale applies to them as well.
Why?
I believe the government's role in the economy is to set the rules by which the market will function and then regulate and enforce those rules. It is often unfair when governments enter the market as a player as they have powers, resources, and revenue streams that are not accessible to private companies. In the case of Aquatera, the company has revenue from municipal ratepayers that could be used to finance expansion of their acquisition. Watchorn's competitor's do not.
There are times when I believe it is justifiable for governments to enter the private market as opposed to just regulating it. For example, sometimes the market is failing to provide a certain product or service or is unable to meet demand. Sometimes there are overarching health and safety reasons. However, in this case, the goal is to provide additional revenue to Aquatera. The rationale is that this revenue stream will moderate utility rates while providing greater dividends to shareholders.
While this is a laudable goal on the surface, it does raise a major philosophical question: Should governments compete in the private market as a way to obtain additional revenue?
For example, the City could turn each of its departments into municipal corporations and we could have Parks out bidding for private mowing contracts or Transportation competing to paint lines in private parking lots. This would provide the City with additional revenue, but at what cost? An undermining of our robust business environment, in my view.
While this is an extreme example (which I doubt would ever receive ministerial approval), the underlying principles are the same.
I will continue to be opposed to governments and/or municipally controlled corporations competing in the private sector unless there are justifiable reasons which do not include "additional revenue" alone.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
How are others in northern Alberta/BC dealing with this snow?
I'm sure by now you've heard how this has been a record-breaking year for snow across much of northern Alberta/BC. I thought it would be useful to look at how other cities are doing on residential snow removal to put our efforts in context and to look for best practices as it relates to policy.
My research is based on searches of newspaper articles, Facebook/Twitter feeds, press releases and info on municipal websites in addition to anecdotal accounts from people I know in some of the cities. Please let me know if there's another city I should be looking at or if you can add anything to what's been written.
Grande Prairie
Snowfall this winter: 192 cms
Residential rotations: 2 complete, 3 in some areas. Removal of windrows has commenced.
Driveway windrow clearing: Council decided to move to the "blitz" method of plowing streets on Dec. 17th which left residents responsible for clearing windrows left at ends of driveways.
Fort St. John
Snowfall this winter: 202 cms
Residential rotations: 1 in mid-December, 1 ongoing
Driveway windrow clearing: Yes
I found an interesting post by FSJ's mayor who was responding to comments that snow removal was taking too long. She reposted the article in the DHT which talks about GP's switch of policies and suggested that FSJ may want to look at going that route to speed things up.
Dawson Creek
Snowfall this winter: N/A
Residential rotations: 2 complete, Crews are now working on removing snow piles.
Driveway windrow clearing: No
Their website quite bluntly explains why driveway entrances are not cleared:
FAQ: When the snowplow goes by and clears the road, he also blocks my driveway with snow. Will the City clear my driveway?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Clearing individual driveways is extremely expensive and places a huge strain on City resources.
Prince George
Snowfall this winter: N/A
Residential rotations: 1 completed in mid-December, 1 began over the last week
Driveway windrow clearing: Yes
I had the most trouble finding information on PG. There were no news releases on their website, they don't have a Facebook/Twitter account and there were only a couple articles in the PG Citizen.According to multiple letters to the editor over the last couple of days, there are still many impassable roads with deep ruts being a major concern.
PG does do residential plowing through the night. When they do this, vehicles are allowed to be parked on the street, but only on the odd side. Could be something to look at for some areas in GP.
While PG's snow removal website lacks information on when crews are going to be around, it does provide a host of other information that I think would be useful for GP to have as well. You can check it out here.
Edmonton
Snowfall this winter: 82 cms
Residential rotations: 2 completed
Driveway windrow clearing: No
Residential roads in Edmonton are only plowed to a 5cm snow pack. No windrows are removed from residential areas. Residents are responsible for clearing out windrows at driveways.
Interesting part of Edmonton policy: any windrows that are over 30cms in front of driveways, the City will come by and clear out. I'd like to find out more about how this policy works and see if something could be instituted like this if we continue with this policy.
Here's an easy-to-read breakdown on Edmonton & Calgary's snow removal policies.
Strathcona County (Sherwood Park)
Snowfall this winter: 82 cms
Residential rotations: 1 completed in early December, 1 begins tomorrow (the 13th)
Driveway windrow clearing: N/A
Website says it takes 12 days to complete a full rotation. Snow policy says that snow is plowed to middle of road and windrowed to be removed later. This must mean all of Sherwood Park's roads are wide enough to accommodate this. I haven't spent much time in SP, so let me know if my assumptions are correct.
Red Deer
Snowfall this winter: 112 cms
Residential rotations: 2 surface plows completed, 1 full plow to begin this week
Driveway windrow clearing: No
Red Deer went through a very similar situation to us this year. They decided in early December that they would initiate surface plowing (or the "blitz" method as we called it) in residential areas where the goal was to create windrows not higher than 16". They initiated another round of this type of plowing on Jan. 1st and completed plowing on the 10th. The goal is to now begin a full plow of residential roads with removal of windrows and clearing to pavement. The estimated time to complete this is 40 days.
St. Albert
Snowfall this winter: 90 cms
Residential rotations: 1 completed in early December
Driveway windrow clearing: Yes
St. Albert is considering doing a second round, but no decision has been made yet. It takes 2-3 weeks to plow through residential areas.
Observations
Not surprisingly, the cities with the "blitz" method have progressed much quicker with their residential snow removal.
There are a number of things we can learn from other cities to improve our policies and I look forward to studying them more as we decide whether to adopt this policy permanently.
I have to give props to all our staff who have been involved with communication. Our daily updates which span all media types is above par and staff should be commended greatly for this.
Please let me know your thoughts!
My research is based on searches of newspaper articles, Facebook/Twitter feeds, press releases and info on municipal websites in addition to anecdotal accounts from people I know in some of the cities. Please let me know if there's another city I should be looking at or if you can add anything to what's been written.
Grande Prairie
Snowfall this winter: 192 cms
Residential rotations: 2 complete, 3 in some areas. Removal of windrows has commenced.
Driveway windrow clearing: Council decided to move to the "blitz" method of plowing streets on Dec. 17th which left residents responsible for clearing windrows left at ends of driveways.
Fort St. John
Snowfall this winter: 202 cms
Residential rotations: 1 in mid-December, 1 ongoing
Driveway windrow clearing: Yes
I found an interesting post by FSJ's mayor who was responding to comments that snow removal was taking too long. She reposted the article in the DHT which talks about GP's switch of policies and suggested that FSJ may want to look at going that route to speed things up.
Dawson Creek
Snowfall this winter: N/A
Residential rotations: 2 complete, Crews are now working on removing snow piles.
Driveway windrow clearing: No
Their website quite bluntly explains why driveway entrances are not cleared:
FAQ: When the snowplow goes by and clears the road, he also blocks my driveway with snow. Will the City clear my driveway?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. Clearing individual driveways is extremely expensive and places a huge strain on City resources.
Prince George
Snowfall this winter: N/A
Residential rotations: 1 completed in mid-December, 1 began over the last week
Driveway windrow clearing: Yes
I had the most trouble finding information on PG. There were no news releases on their website, they don't have a Facebook/Twitter account and there were only a couple articles in the PG Citizen.According to multiple letters to the editor over the last couple of days, there are still many impassable roads with deep ruts being a major concern.
PG does do residential plowing through the night. When they do this, vehicles are allowed to be parked on the street, but only on the odd side. Could be something to look at for some areas in GP.
While PG's snow removal website lacks information on when crews are going to be around, it does provide a host of other information that I think would be useful for GP to have as well. You can check it out here.
Edmonton
Snowfall this winter: 82 cms
Residential rotations: 2 completed
Driveway windrow clearing: No
Residential roads in Edmonton are only plowed to a 5cm snow pack. No windrows are removed from residential areas. Residents are responsible for clearing out windrows at driveways.
Interesting part of Edmonton policy: any windrows that are over 30cms in front of driveways, the City will come by and clear out. I'd like to find out more about how this policy works and see if something could be instituted like this if we continue with this policy.
Here's an easy-to-read breakdown on Edmonton & Calgary's snow removal policies.
Strathcona County (Sherwood Park)
Snowfall this winter: 82 cms
Residential rotations: 1 completed in early December, 1 begins tomorrow (the 13th)
Driveway windrow clearing: N/A
Website says it takes 12 days to complete a full rotation. Snow policy says that snow is plowed to middle of road and windrowed to be removed later. This must mean all of Sherwood Park's roads are wide enough to accommodate this. I haven't spent much time in SP, so let me know if my assumptions are correct.
Red Deer
Snowfall this winter: 112 cms
Residential rotations: 2 surface plows completed, 1 full plow to begin this week
Driveway windrow clearing: No
Red Deer went through a very similar situation to us this year. They decided in early December that they would initiate surface plowing (or the "blitz" method as we called it) in residential areas where the goal was to create windrows not higher than 16". They initiated another round of this type of plowing on Jan. 1st and completed plowing on the 10th. The goal is to now begin a full plow of residential roads with removal of windrows and clearing to pavement. The estimated time to complete this is 40 days.
St. Albert
Snowfall this winter: 90 cms
Residential rotations: 1 completed in early December
Driveway windrow clearing: Yes
St. Albert is considering doing a second round, but no decision has been made yet. It takes 2-3 weeks to plow through residential areas.
Observations
Not surprisingly, the cities with the "blitz" method have progressed much quicker with their residential snow removal.
There are a number of things we can learn from other cities to improve our policies and I look forward to studying them more as we decide whether to adopt this policy permanently.
I have to give props to all our staff who have been involved with communication. Our daily updates which span all media types is above par and staff should be commended greatly for this.
Please let me know your thoughts!
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Who are the "Morons" That Approved this Snow Plan?
Who are the morons, idiots, losers, [insert other pejorative term here] that approved this new snow plan? Well, I'm one of them. And I'm going to vote to continue this plan on Tuesday. This post will tell you why.
Let me start by saying thank you to everyone who gave feedback on our snow removal plans. I received many Facebook posts, emails, tweets and phone calls with your input. It was also the hot topic at holiday parties this year and I spent many a moment conversing about the intricacies of snow removal.
After taking this input into account and evaluating the data from our Transportation department, I have decided that I will be supporting the new "blitz" snow removal policy for the rest of the season. Here are the reasons why:
1. Speed
Under the blitz method of snow removal, we are able to have every residential street done in 5 days. Under the old plan, it takes anywhere from 36 to 48 days with this much snow. Quite frankly, clearing out the driveway of every one of the 22,000+ dwellings in GP is a tedious, slow going process. Additionally, the longer the snow sits and gets compacted, the longer it takes to remove, thus compounding the problem.
Having roads impassable for weeks on end is unacceptable. People need to get to work, ambulances need to get to homes, and garbage needs to be removed. Simply put, the new plan allows for us to be much quicker with making the roads passable.
2. Predictability
The new plan allows for us to more accurately say where crews are going to be on any given day. We can develop a 5 day schedule which could say that on Day 1 of residential snow removal, our crews will be in x, y, and z neighbourhoods. Day 2 we'll be in a, b, and c. And so on. This will help with getting vehicles off the road as there will be a predictable schedule.
3. Cost
The cost of one complete residential snow removal rotation under the old plan is between $500,000-$700,000.
The cost of one rotation under the blitz method is around $130,000.
In other words, we could do 5 rotations under the new plan for the same cost as 1 under the old.
What are the Cons?
The main con under this new plan is that residents are responsible for clearing out the windrows in front of their driveways. This can create serious challenges for seniors or residents with disabilities. This is why we've set up a hotline (780-538-0354 ext. 3) for residents to call should they require assistance with clearing. We will have to develop a policy to establish the program more formally.
I understand there are people who think I'm a "moron" or any other number of names that have come my way because of my support for this plan. Hopefully this post gives insight into my rationale for supporting it. There's always room for improvement though, so please continue sharing your thoughts with me.
I've found the people who have shown the greatest support for this new plan are those from out east where they experience much greater snowfalls and where this type of snow removal is the norm. I've researched dozens of snow removal policies over the last few weeks and have come to the conclusion that our current policy is highly inefficient when it comes to dealing with the great snowfalls we've been receiving.
While GP's long-term annual average snowfall is 158 cms, our average over the last 5 years has been 212 cms. I'm no weather expert, but it seems to me that we should be adjusting our policies to account for snowfalls more akin to what is received out east. On that note, I believe now is the time to change our policies and as such I will be voting in favour at Tuesday's meeting.
You can read Transportation manager Robert Carroll's report on the two plans here.
Odds and Ends
Several people have shared this video of a gate attachment for graders that could hold back snow over driveways. The City bought a couple of these a while ago and found that they work great in rural areas, but that they do not work very good in residential streets with driveways fairly close to one another. Apparently the gate gets clogged with snow way too often slowing down the process dramatically.
Let me start by saying thank you to everyone who gave feedback on our snow removal plans. I received many Facebook posts, emails, tweets and phone calls with your input. It was also the hot topic at holiday parties this year and I spent many a moment conversing about the intricacies of snow removal.
After taking this input into account and evaluating the data from our Transportation department, I have decided that I will be supporting the new "blitz" snow removal policy for the rest of the season. Here are the reasons why:
1. Speed
Under the blitz method of snow removal, we are able to have every residential street done in 5 days. Under the old plan, it takes anywhere from 36 to 48 days with this much snow. Quite frankly, clearing out the driveway of every one of the 22,000+ dwellings in GP is a tedious, slow going process. Additionally, the longer the snow sits and gets compacted, the longer it takes to remove, thus compounding the problem.
Having roads impassable for weeks on end is unacceptable. People need to get to work, ambulances need to get to homes, and garbage needs to be removed. Simply put, the new plan allows for us to be much quicker with making the roads passable.
2. Predictability
The new plan allows for us to more accurately say where crews are going to be on any given day. We can develop a 5 day schedule which could say that on Day 1 of residential snow removal, our crews will be in x, y, and z neighbourhoods. Day 2 we'll be in a, b, and c. And so on. This will help with getting vehicles off the road as there will be a predictable schedule.
3. Cost
The cost of one complete residential snow removal rotation under the old plan is between $500,000-$700,000.
The cost of one rotation under the blitz method is around $130,000.
In other words, we could do 5 rotations under the new plan for the same cost as 1 under the old.
What are the Cons?
The main con under this new plan is that residents are responsible for clearing out the windrows in front of their driveways. This can create serious challenges for seniors or residents with disabilities. This is why we've set up a hotline (780-538-0354 ext. 3) for residents to call should they require assistance with clearing. We will have to develop a policy to establish the program more formally.
I understand there are people who think I'm a "moron" or any other number of names that have come my way because of my support for this plan. Hopefully this post gives insight into my rationale for supporting it. There's always room for improvement though, so please continue sharing your thoughts with me.
I've found the people who have shown the greatest support for this new plan are those from out east where they experience much greater snowfalls and where this type of snow removal is the norm. I've researched dozens of snow removal policies over the last few weeks and have come to the conclusion that our current policy is highly inefficient when it comes to dealing with the great snowfalls we've been receiving.
While GP's long-term annual average snowfall is 158 cms, our average over the last 5 years has been 212 cms. I'm no weather expert, but it seems to me that we should be adjusting our policies to account for snowfalls more akin to what is received out east. On that note, I believe now is the time to change our policies and as such I will be voting in favour at Tuesday's meeting.
You can read Transportation manager Robert Carroll's report on the two plans here.
Odds and Ends
Several people have shared this video of a gate attachment for graders that could hold back snow over driveways. The City bought a couple of these a while ago and found that they work great in rural areas, but that they do not work very good in residential streets with driveways fairly close to one another. Apparently the gate gets clogged with snow way too often slowing down the process dramatically.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The Lowdown on Snow, Yo
In case you hadn't noticed, there's been a lot of talk about snow removal lately.
I thought I'd take some time to share some info on the subject and explore a few options. Councillor Kevin O'Toole also has a good post on the subject that you can find here.
To begin: this snow sucks...big time. My fellow Councillors and I, as well as administration, know quite well how terrible the residential roads are. I have dug out my fair share of vehicles, helped pull out a school bus, and have gotten my one ton dually stuck a few times. I admit that even I had a few choice words to say to the City as my bumper was dislocated from my car trying to get out of a snow rut. I get it.
So how did we get here?
The simple answer is that we got an ungodly amount of snow in a very short timespan. 140 cms in 3 weeks to be precise. That's 87% of the average snowfall we get in an ENTIRE winter. That's half of what the snowiest city in Canada (St. John's, Nfld) gets in an ENTIRE winter. That's a heck of a lot of snow by any measure.
What 's been even worse about this particular snowfall is that it has been continuous. This means that we have had to have most of our crews continuously on Priority I and II routes slowing down residential street removal.
What has the City's response been?
We have had every available piece of City equipment working round the clock to clear the roads. Our staff are tirelessly working as long as labour laws allow...and the overtime is stacking up. In addition to City crews, we have contracted as many private companies to help with removal as there are available. If there were more, we'd have them. We're now spending $40,000 a day on contracted services alone.
What's the problem then?
The problem is that there are an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 loads of snow left to be moved and there is just not the capacity in the region to deal with it in a timely fashion.
How can we speed things up?
1. GET PARKED CARS OFF THE STREET!! The thing that slows our crews down the most is having to deal with parked cars. If every street they came to had no parked cars, the whole city could be done in a fraction of the time.
How do we achieve this? The City can tow vehicles that are parked on the street...and they try. However, there has been a several hour wait for tow trucks over the last couple weeks, so it's faster to just ticket the vehicle and plow around it. You can help by ensuring your vehicle is off the road when asked and encouraging your neighbours to do the same.
Some cities put parking bans on entire neighbourhoods over a several day period to make it easier to know when to remove your vehicle. Or some have parking bans on the neighbourhood's garbage day. Some cities even have citywide parking bans (although I highly doubt that'd fly in GP!) Do you think there is a better method than just having a sign out 24 hrs in advance as we do now? Or in other words, why are people still leaving vehicles on the street and what can we do to fix that?
The real root of the problem is that we have many residents who have no place to park but the street. While we could talk for hours about decisions made in the past regarding parking available in new developments, I prefer to look to the future. The City has become much more cognizant of the issue and are now requiring additional parking stalls, particularly in regards to multi-family dwellings and secondary suites. We need to continue this practice.
2. Clearing out the entrance to residents' driveways takes up a considerable amount of time. If we didn't do this during these crazy freak storms, we could get to more streets faster. We could come back to finish them later or have residents responsible for them themselves. Would you be okay with this?
3. We currently don't do snow removal in residential areas at night between 10pm and 7am. Would you be okay with the noise associated with the graders/loaders in the middle of the night if it meant faster snow removal?
This option would be difficult to achieve as we get back to the parking issue. There are more vehicles parked on the road at night and it is harder to contact owners at 2am.
4. As we go into 2015-2018 budget planning, we will have to examine whether additional staff and/or equipment will be needed. This is always a tricky decision as there are some years where we get very little snow and we don't want to have a massive snow removal fleet just sitting around. There's definitely a balance that needs to be found.
So there you have it folks...the lowdown on the snowdown (my new word).
As always, feedback appreciated.
Cheers,
Rory
I thought I'd take some time to share some info on the subject and explore a few options. Councillor Kevin O'Toole also has a good post on the subject that you can find here.
To begin: this snow sucks...big time. My fellow Councillors and I, as well as administration, know quite well how terrible the residential roads are. I have dug out my fair share of vehicles, helped pull out a school bus, and have gotten my one ton dually stuck a few times. I admit that even I had a few choice words to say to the City as my bumper was dislocated from my car trying to get out of a snow rut. I get it.
So how did we get here?
The simple answer is that we got an ungodly amount of snow in a very short timespan. 140 cms in 3 weeks to be precise. That's 87% of the average snowfall we get in an ENTIRE winter. That's half of what the snowiest city in Canada (St. John's, Nfld) gets in an ENTIRE winter. That's a heck of a lot of snow by any measure.
What 's been even worse about this particular snowfall is that it has been continuous. This means that we have had to have most of our crews continuously on Priority I and II routes slowing down residential street removal.
What has the City's response been?
We have had every available piece of City equipment working round the clock to clear the roads. Our staff are tirelessly working as long as labour laws allow...and the overtime is stacking up. In addition to City crews, we have contracted as many private companies to help with removal as there are available. If there were more, we'd have them. We're now spending $40,000 a day on contracted services alone.
What's the problem then?
The problem is that there are an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 loads of snow left to be moved and there is just not the capacity in the region to deal with it in a timely fashion.
How can we speed things up?
1. GET PARKED CARS OFF THE STREET!! The thing that slows our crews down the most is having to deal with parked cars. If every street they came to had no parked cars, the whole city could be done in a fraction of the time.
How do we achieve this? The City can tow vehicles that are parked on the street...and they try. However, there has been a several hour wait for tow trucks over the last couple weeks, so it's faster to just ticket the vehicle and plow around it. You can help by ensuring your vehicle is off the road when asked and encouraging your neighbours to do the same.
Some cities put parking bans on entire neighbourhoods over a several day period to make it easier to know when to remove your vehicle. Or some have parking bans on the neighbourhood's garbage day. Some cities even have citywide parking bans (although I highly doubt that'd fly in GP!) Do you think there is a better method than just having a sign out 24 hrs in advance as we do now? Or in other words, why are people still leaving vehicles on the street and what can we do to fix that?
The real root of the problem is that we have many residents who have no place to park but the street. While we could talk for hours about decisions made in the past regarding parking available in new developments, I prefer to look to the future. The City has become much more cognizant of the issue and are now requiring additional parking stalls, particularly in regards to multi-family dwellings and secondary suites. We need to continue this practice.
2. Clearing out the entrance to residents' driveways takes up a considerable amount of time. If we didn't do this during these crazy freak storms, we could get to more streets faster. We could come back to finish them later or have residents responsible for them themselves. Would you be okay with this?
3. We currently don't do snow removal in residential areas at night between 10pm and 7am. Would you be okay with the noise associated with the graders/loaders in the middle of the night if it meant faster snow removal?
This option would be difficult to achieve as we get back to the parking issue. There are more vehicles parked on the road at night and it is harder to contact owners at 2am.
4. As we go into 2015-2018 budget planning, we will have to examine whether additional staff and/or equipment will be needed. This is always a tricky decision as there are some years where we get very little snow and we don't want to have a massive snow removal fleet just sitting around. There's definitely a balance that needs to be found.
So there you have it folks...the lowdown on the snowdown (my new word).
As always, feedback appreciated.
Cheers,
Rory
Monday, November 25, 2013
AUMA Recap
Most of City Council attended the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) convention over the last few days.
The AUMA is an organization that represents 272 urban municipalities in the province and advocates the interests of its members to both the provincial and federal governments as well as other provincial and federal organizations.
AUMA holds a yearly convention where there are learning sessions, policy discussions, meetings with provincial officials and cabinet ministers, advocacy resolutions are passed and networking opportunities abound.
I thought I'd give a little recap of my experience this year:
Asset Management
I went to an informative session on Asset Management. There was an excellent presentation from the Town of Hinton, who leads Albertan municipalities in this field. In a nutshell, Asset Management is the process of analysing infrastructure to get an accurate accounting of lifespans, upgrades required, etc. While the City does do this to a certain extent now, there are a number of best practices that could be adopted to give Council and Admin a fuller picture of the health and longevity of our tangible capital assets.
MGA Review
The Municipal Government Act is the piece of legislation that governs almost everything that municipalities do in Alberta. The government announced last year that the MGA would be undergoing an extensive review that would culminate in an updated version going to the Legislature by Spring 2015. The City, through its involvement with AUMA, will be able to contribute to these discussions in a number of areas.
One of the sessions I went to on the review spoke about revenue streams. Some municipalities have asked for the power to diversify their revenue streams in the belief that there is an over-reliance on property taxes. The presentation examined all the possible revenue streams available and gave pros and cons on each one. I plan on doing a blog post on the topic in the future.
Municipal Governance
There was a fascinating panel discussion on different municipal governance models. Regional governments, regional planning boards, and multi-lateral partnerships were all discussed. There seemed to be a consensus in the room that much of the current system is imperfect, although there was less consensus on what the answers are.
Resolutions
Each year, members of AUMA debate and pass resolutions which direct AUMA's advocacy efforts. This year we talked about topics ranging from municipal funding to wetlands to amalgamations to pensions plans to the introduction of a provincial combative sports commission. The AUMA board will now take the policies that were passed and incorporate them into their advocacy efforts.
Dialogue with Ministers
There were a number of Q & A sessions with members of the provincial cabinet. While sometimes Ministers use this time to announce new policies or additional funding, there were no surprises from what I could tell. Everything seems pretty status-quo.
Trade Show
Every year the AUMA has a trade show which showcases everything from new street lighting systems to educational opportunities to paving equipment. It was great to see what types of products and services are out there for municipalities. I particularly enjoyed having the chance to test out some outdoor fitness equipment.
One of the great things about these conventions is the networking opportunities. I got to meet many people from around the province and was able to learn from their experiences on a number of topics.
Overall, the convention was of great value to me. I believe the AUMA provides tremendous value to Albertan municipalities and Grande Prairie is no exception. I look forward to working with them as they advance municipal objectives in the province, especially with Councillor Rice as the new President!
PS. This blog could have been a dozen pages if I expanded on everything...so if you want more details...just give me a shout!
The AUMA is an organization that represents 272 urban municipalities in the province and advocates the interests of its members to both the provincial and federal governments as well as other provincial and federal organizations.
AUMA holds a yearly convention where there are learning sessions, policy discussions, meetings with provincial officials and cabinet ministers, advocacy resolutions are passed and networking opportunities abound.
I thought I'd give a little recap of my experience this year:
Asset Management
I went to an informative session on Asset Management. There was an excellent presentation from the Town of Hinton, who leads Albertan municipalities in this field. In a nutshell, Asset Management is the process of analysing infrastructure to get an accurate accounting of lifespans, upgrades required, etc. While the City does do this to a certain extent now, there are a number of best practices that could be adopted to give Council and Admin a fuller picture of the health and longevity of our tangible capital assets.
MGA Review
The Municipal Government Act is the piece of legislation that governs almost everything that municipalities do in Alberta. The government announced last year that the MGA would be undergoing an extensive review that would culminate in an updated version going to the Legislature by Spring 2015. The City, through its involvement with AUMA, will be able to contribute to these discussions in a number of areas.
One of the sessions I went to on the review spoke about revenue streams. Some municipalities have asked for the power to diversify their revenue streams in the belief that there is an over-reliance on property taxes. The presentation examined all the possible revenue streams available and gave pros and cons on each one. I plan on doing a blog post on the topic in the future.
Municipal Governance
There was a fascinating panel discussion on different municipal governance models. Regional governments, regional planning boards, and multi-lateral partnerships were all discussed. There seemed to be a consensus in the room that much of the current system is imperfect, although there was less consensus on what the answers are.
Resolutions
Each year, members of AUMA debate and pass resolutions which direct AUMA's advocacy efforts. This year we talked about topics ranging from municipal funding to wetlands to amalgamations to pensions plans to the introduction of a provincial combative sports commission. The AUMA board will now take the policies that were passed and incorporate them into their advocacy efforts.
Dialogue with Ministers
There were a number of Q & A sessions with members of the provincial cabinet. While sometimes Ministers use this time to announce new policies or additional funding, there were no surprises from what I could tell. Everything seems pretty status-quo.
Trade Show
Every year the AUMA has a trade show which showcases everything from new street lighting systems to educational opportunities to paving equipment. It was great to see what types of products and services are out there for municipalities. I particularly enjoyed having the chance to test out some outdoor fitness equipment.
One of the great things about these conventions is the networking opportunities. I got to meet many people from around the province and was able to learn from their experiences on a number of topics.
Overall, the convention was of great value to me. I believe the AUMA provides tremendous value to Albertan municipalities and Grande Prairie is no exception. I look forward to working with them as they advance municipal objectives in the province, especially with Councillor Rice as the new President!
PS. This blog could have been a dozen pages if I expanded on everything...so if you want more details...just give me a shout!
Friday, November 15, 2013
Budget 2014: The Aftermath
The 2014 Budget has been set.
We had to make a lot of hard choices today, but I am pleased with the overall outcome of our budget.
Here is a list of the funding we approved:
After the dust settled, we were looking at a 2.4% tax increase. Not ideal in my mind, but less than the 3.3% increase that was originally budgeted for and a far cry from the 7-10% increases we saw a few years ago.
I am very pleased with the projects that have gone ahead. I believe they will have a very positive impact on the future of our city and will help ensure our residents thrive!
We had to make a lot of hard choices today, but I am pleased with the overall outcome of our budget.
Here is a list of the funding we approved:
- Crystal Centre Truss & Rigging upgrades - $2.66 million
- Leisure Centre upgrades - $2 million (brings total amount to $6 million)
- Northern Alberta Youth Entrepreneur Camp - $10,000
- 100th Anniversary Funding - $250,000
- Grande Prairie Boys Choir - $11,000
- Grande Prairie Sports Council -$75,000
- New Off Leash Dog Areas -$68,000
- Hillside Social Housing demolition project - $300,000
- Eastlink/Gymniks parking - $2.03 million
- Football field beside new high school - $2.74 million
- Odyssey House Second stage shelter - $700,000 (over two years)
- GP and Area Safe Communities - $10,000
- 101 Ave Extension (98st to 97 a St.) & Lights - $850,000
- 124 St. Paving - $2.5 million
- Intersection upgrades $300,000
- Manhole & Catch basin replacement - $100,000
- Replacement of old bridge on Muskoseepi Trails - $300,000
- 92 St. Twinning design - $200,000
- Pedestrian trail along 108th St.. (between 68th and 76th ave.) - $300,000
After the dust settled, we were looking at a 2.4% tax increase. Not ideal in my mind, but less than the 3.3% increase that was originally budgeted for and a far cry from the 7-10% increases we saw a few years ago.
I am very pleased with the projects that have gone ahead. I believe they will have a very positive impact on the future of our city and will help ensure our residents thrive!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
2014 Budget Review
Tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 15th) morning City Council finalizes the budget for next year. Keep in mind this is just a smaller review. The previous Council set out a three-year budget beginning in 2012 and culminating in 2014. However, each year Council is able to tweak the budget. So without further ado, here is what we face tomorrow:
I'm going to try to make this as clear as I can without getting into too many details. I'm also still learning about the finer points, so bear with me.
Council has been presented with a number of spending proposals from administration and community groups. I've listed several of the larger ones ($500K+) below:
Artificial turf football field at CKC: $2.74 million
Eastlink Centre parking: $2.03 million
CGA Truss & Rigging upgrades: $2.66 million
Odyssey House Supportive Housing project: $700,000
Community Space at Isabel Campbell school: $500,000
City Hall First Floor redesign: $500,000
Other projects (< 500K): $1.5 million
Additionally, we are going to find out tomorrow the capital costs associated with the Leisure Centre and the Bear Creek pool renos as well as a list of road/storm water/traffic signal/trail projects.
So we are going to be faced with between $10-$20 million in new expenditure proposals.
Let's look where we're at on the revenue side:
The core operational and capital budgets have been set, but there is a small amount available to us that has not been allocated yet. These budgeted amounts are $3.4 million in operating and $3.7 million in capital. These amounts were originally budgeted for with a 3.3% tax rate increase, but due to a number of factors, these amounts now equate to a 1.8% increase.
In addition, there is a $3.4 million surplus from this year that could be used for expenditures. We'll have to discuss whether we would want to use that entire surplus up, or have it go into our Financial Stabilization Reserve for future expenditures. So in sum, there is about $10.5 million we have to work with (at a 1.8% tax rate increase). Of course, we could choose to higher/lower the tax rate. A 1% increase/decrease equates to a $900,000 change in revenues.
So there's the scoop. Tough decisions will have to be made; but that's what we were elected to do. Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts on the budget and/or specific proposals. If you have additional comments, let me know by 9am tomorrow! Feel free to watch us online starting at 9am or come on by City Hall to watch the action in person!
I'm going to try to make this as clear as I can without getting into too many details. I'm also still learning about the finer points, so bear with me.
Council has been presented with a number of spending proposals from administration and community groups. I've listed several of the larger ones ($500K+) below:
Artificial turf football field at CKC: $2.74 million
Eastlink Centre parking: $2.03 million
CGA Truss & Rigging upgrades: $2.66 million
Odyssey House Supportive Housing project: $700,000
Community Space at Isabel Campbell school: $500,000
City Hall First Floor redesign: $500,000
Other projects (< 500K): $1.5 million
Additionally, we are going to find out tomorrow the capital costs associated with the Leisure Centre and the Bear Creek pool renos as well as a list of road/storm water/traffic signal/trail projects.
So we are going to be faced with between $10-$20 million in new expenditure proposals.
Let's look where we're at on the revenue side:
The core operational and capital budgets have been set, but there is a small amount available to us that has not been allocated yet. These budgeted amounts are $3.4 million in operating and $3.7 million in capital. These amounts were originally budgeted for with a 3.3% tax rate increase, but due to a number of factors, these amounts now equate to a 1.8% increase.
In addition, there is a $3.4 million surplus from this year that could be used for expenditures. We'll have to discuss whether we would want to use that entire surplus up, or have it go into our Financial Stabilization Reserve for future expenditures. So in sum, there is about $10.5 million we have to work with (at a 1.8% tax rate increase). Of course, we could choose to higher/lower the tax rate. A 1% increase/decrease equates to a $900,000 change in revenues.
So there's the scoop. Tough decisions will have to be made; but that's what we were elected to do. Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts on the budget and/or specific proposals. If you have additional comments, let me know by 9am tomorrow! Feel free to watch us online starting at 9am or come on by City Hall to watch the action in person!
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