council update, 12 December 2010
Hello everyone:
I know you're all very busy preparing for the holiday season, but there is also a lot going on at council ...
BUDGET
The next budget meeting is Monday from 9 to noon in council chambers. You're very welcome to attend.
We've been working on the operational budget -- the part that covers day-to-day programs and services -- and have finished the line-by-line review. At the last meeting, we asked administration to bring us a list of options to cut up to $179,000 from the budget. On Monday, we'll be looking at those options and deciding on a target figure we would like to hit.
We'll also be looking at the capital budget -- the one that covers building new projects (or renovating old ones) and acquiring or replacing assets such as vehicles and equipment. At our last meeting, we got some good news from administration: a variety of factors have made it possible to avoid some of the borrowing that was in the capital plan. However, as you know, we also have some important projects (such as Cave Avenue reconstruction, St Julien sidewalks, etc) that have had to be pushed back over the last couple of years. I'll be checking to see whether we now have an opportunity to move any of those up the timeline a bit.
You can see the whole package for the budget meeting at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/Assets/council-budget-agenda-101213.pdf
The operating budget starts on page 2 of the package, and the capital budget information starts on page 64.
Monday is the last scheduled budget meeting, but we'll see how we do -- it seems possible that we may need to schedule one more.
MONDAY'S REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
The regular meeting of council starts at 2 pm on Monday. As always, the public is welcome.
You can see the whole package at this link:
Here are a few of the highlights:
Business licence bylaw
Council got lots of feedback (thank you!) on the proposed new rates and structure. In response to what we've heard, administration is suggesting three additional changes: lower the proposed rate for businesses that gross under $30,000 per year, create a graduated structure in the reservations/guiding/activities/DMC/event planner category, and add a rental car category. You can see the report, the bylaw, and the feedback we received starting on page 15 of the package.
Electrical franchise fee
Council will be voting on whether to put a "municipal rate rider" on to electrical bills, as is done in many other Alberta municipalities. This is proposed for 2% in 2011, going to 4% in 2012. It is expected to cost around $9/year for the average residence, and around $12 - $36/year for the average business. It depends on consumption, so the more your conserve, the less you pay. I can support this, as long as council dedicates the money to energy-related projects, such as switching streetlights over to LEDs, or burying power lines. You can see the whole report, starting on page 37 of the package.
Implementing the waste utility
We'll be voting on the proposed bylaw that will bring the waste utility into effect. In the past, waste and recycling activities were all funded by property taxes. If this new approach passes, we will phase in a user-pay approach over three years. Businesses have been trying this out this past fall -- they get to pick the types of bins they need and their frequency of pickup. Administration tells us that this is already leading to better waste diversion (businesses pay less for cardboard and organics than for mixed garbage, so there is an incentive to sort). As well, it looks like we will see some operational efficiencies, as the trucks won't have to stop at every stop, every day. You can see the report starting on page 65 of the package.
2010 Visitor Experience Plan
Starting on page 76, you can see the draft plan for how the town will respond to identified visitor needs over the next few quarters. This includes ideas such as helping visitors find washrooms and parking, adding audio commentary to the Roam transit, providing one-stop contact with the town for groups planning events, and so on. In this discussion, I'll be expressing the opinion that all residents are stakeholders in this process, and that we should make a regular practice of consulting broadly, not just with identified organizations.
Resident satisfaction survey
You can see the results of the recent survey, starting on page 232 of the package. It's great to see that, compared to 2007, 25% more residents rate the value they receive for their muncipal tax dollar as good or very good. People ranked the library as the service that they're most satisfied with, and public safety (fire, ambulance, RCMP) as the service area that is most important. This is very interesting reading -- many thanks to those of you who got involved in the survey!
Community measures report
The town tracks how we're doing on our Community Plan by reporting on various indicators -- those ones that we're measuring anyway, so that we don't incur extra expense for monitoring. You can see this year's report summary at this link:
http://www.banff.ca/town-hall/banff-community-plan/community-measures.htm
You'll see encouraging numbers (waste diversion is up) and discouraging numbers (water consumption per person is also up). It's an interesting report card.
DO COUNCILLORS EARN THEIR MONEY?