Editor's Note: This story was previously posted on StratfordToday.ca.
Stratford city council still has no budget for the coming year, as work continued Monday, Dec. 9, at the finance and labour relations committee meeting.
Committee chair Mark Hunter said that as things stand right now, it’s likely that a seven per cent increase is coming for the budget but he added that there is still work to be done.
“We’ve approved the bulk of the expansions, which moved us to around the seven (per cent) mark),” he said. “I’ve worked through a few things and there are some things I’d like to propose to try and save us a little money. I think we’re at a point where we need to be having conversations about programming we provide – whether there’s still value in that programming and if we can shave a little off to save some money.”
Hunter said one area he’s identified is the possibility of selling off the former normal school building, bringing back revenue from the sale while also removing capital expenditures from their books.
“There’s a bit of a risk if we hang on to the building and don’t get a buyer for it – we’d have to put money into it for upkeep and things like that, so I’m hopeful we can sell it at a reasonable price and save that input,” he said.
Despite giving the approval to most of the expansion requests, Hunter said it comes down to trusting staff when they say they need something done or approved. He cited the request for more staff in the bylaw enforcement area as just one example of improving efficiencies to help the bigger picture run smoother.
“We’ve never really had a backflow prevention bylaw officer, although we’ve had backflow prevention bylaws on the books since 2006 but never really done much to follow that up,” he said. “It’s important to have and it’s worth investing to have people take care of it, plus that’s something that can largely be funded by user fees though not completely. Also, having general bylaw enforcement officers will help since our staff are pretty overwhelmed with complaints. It’s a small compliment we have now that works 9-5 Monday through Friday. Not all complaints happen through the week, so getting extra coverage will help.”
Earlier in the budget process Hunter and other councillors had asked some items be referred back to staff, one of which was the community grants program. He had hoped to eliminate the program but council arrived at a compromise which will save the city about $325,000 next year. They’ve also asked for a review of the PC Connect transit service and costing, but no action was taken on that item.
Another of the big-ticket items was the request by human resources for a Human Resources Information System software package that was listed at $425,000 in the budget; Hunter asked if they could return that request to staff and have a more economical alternative sourced out.
Even with the expansions largely approved and the number hovering at seven per cent, Hunter still remains hopeful that they can find more areas to save before presenting the budget to council in the new year.
“It’s higher than I would like for us to be at, and we know that the cost is an issue for people,” he said. “It’s my hope that they’ll weigh the cost out against the services being provided.”
At the meeting Monday, Hunter used the example of the city’s bus fleet and how residents are split on that service. He argued that the city’s density doesn’t meet the requirements for a transit system like what they have but it’s what they need as the density grows. It would also be one of those things that, if the city elected to remove it, bringing it back would be more expensive in the long run.
“Things like that, I’m going to tread very lightly on, but I’m going to propose to council that some of the programming should be looked at and identify where we can save while making the least negative impact,” he said. “One of those areas is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department – there are two people working there and while I think it’s valuable for the community to have helping deal with newcomers, I know there is about a quarter of a million dollars (in that department). If we were to remove it and then later say that was a mistake, it wouldn’t be super challenging to reinstate it. That’s one I’m looking at and I know there are other councillors doing their own calculations.”
With more work to be done, Hunter confirmed there would be no budget presented to council at the Monday, Dec. 16 meeting; it would likely be some time in January that a final draft would come up for a vote.
