Ottawa’s mayor says he believes millions of dollars can be saved in the city’s upcoming 2016 budget through operational efficiencies.
“We’re going into the depths of the organization to find those efficiencies in terms of overtime, conference travel, hospitality, trying to provide a service a different way. The general public won’t notice a change in the service delivery level,” says Jim Watson.
The city’s 2016 draft budget proposes $17.4 million in operational efficiencies. These savings are proposed to come from four areas: $10.5 million from city services, $4.6 million from transit, $2 million from police and $300,000 from public health.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney isn’t convinced this is possible without impacting service levels.
“We’re told that they aren’t going to affect front-line services, but I need the detail, I need to see a spreadsheet that equals $17 million with how that’s going to be accomplished,” says McKenney.
The draft budget documents provide some examples of operational efficiencies linked to dollar figures, but in many cases savings are not clearly identified as operational efficiencies.
A summary report of the draft budget provided by the city’s finance department reviewed planned purchases of fleet vehicles. Contracting out more iron works and converting streetlights to more efficient LED technology are just some of the proposed cost saving strategies mentioned. But there are no dollar figures tied to each of these proposed initiatives.
McKenney says in an attempt to get more information, one of her colleagues asked city manager Kent Kirkpatrick for more details about how operational efficiencies would be achieved.
“We were told we had to ask the general manager at the committee meeting when each of these committees deal with their budgets, but that’s too late for the public to know, by that time we’re deciding and we’re voting,” says McKenney.
Meetings to discuss each committee’s budget began on Nov. 17 and will conclude on Dec. 7. City council then meets on Dec. 9 to approve the budget.
While he didn’t provide a master list of how departments will find savings, Kirkpatrick did give some details of how one of the larger operations in the city will improve its efficiency. He says the city will save $2.5 million in winter maintenance with better optimization of snow clearing and ice control routes, better use of stand-by workers and better application of some of the materials and supplies.
Finding operational efficiencies is just one of several strategies in the draft budget to help achieve Watson’s commitment to cap the property tax increase at two per cent. There will also be user fee increases and other service charges to help balance the $3.165-billion budget, as well as plans to dip into $11.5 million of reserve funds, sell surplus land and cut 50 full-time equivalent jobs.
“The thing with cutting 50 full time jobs is perhaps they’re not required, we don’t know that. I don’t have the details,” says McKenney.
McKenney doesn’t have details on where the job cuts will occur because city managers haven’t decided where to cut.
“Management through 2016 will be doing a review of our administrative functions, our organizational structure, and the 50 FTE’s will be identified over the next several months reported out to council,” says Kirkpatrick. He also pointed out another 150 job cuts are on the way between 2017 and 2018.
McKenney says Watson’s target of capping the property tax rate at two per cent might not maintain services. “The services that we offer, we have to pay for them, so we have to decide what is it that we want, and how much are we willing to pay for it. I’m not convinced that two per cent is going to meet those needs,” says McKenney, adding, “if we need 2.5 then you know you should be investing 2.5.”
Proposed Property Taxes
(Based on an urban home with an averaged assessment of $375,300)
• The proposed two per cent property tax increase adds up to an extra $55 in 2016, bringing the total to $2,783.
• The proposed 2.85 per cent transit levy increase costs an additional $17 this year, lifting the total to $612.
• The proposed garbage fee remains unchanged at $82.
Other proposed fee and service charge increases
• The proposed water and sewer rate increase is six per cent. This equates to a $49 increase for each household per year.
• The proposed increase for transit fares is 2.5 per cent.
• Most recreation user fees are proposed to increase by two per cent.
• Public skating admission fees are proposed to increase by five to 13 per cent.
• Public swim admission fees are proposed to increase by six to 21 per cent.
• Arena rentals are proposed to increase by 5.6 per cent.