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By rdnewsNOW Staff

$20M NEEDED TO BALANCE

City getting a jump on Budget 2025

Aug 7, 2024 | 10:15 AM

City council and administration are getting ahead of the game for budget this year by conducting a service level review and prioritization exercise.

From July 8–30, council was surveyed on each of the City’s 275 service levels. City officials say the survey was intended to understand council’s appetite to explore possible changes to any service level in the future to reduce expenses.

“We’re facing another challenging budget year, needing approximately $20 million to balance the budget,” said Mike Olesen, growth and finance general manager. “While some of this can be achieved through property tax and utility user fees, we need to consider additional ways to reduce expenses to balance the budget.”

On September 3, administration will bring a report to council with a full review and analysis of the service levels they identified. Council will then provide formal direction to administration on what to include in the budget recommendations in November, when it is time for budget debate.

In addition to the service level review and prioritization process, a number of other changes have been made to the Budget 2025 process in an effort to make budget more clear and understandable:

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• A budget charter was developed to guide both administration and council through the budget process. More information about the charter is available at reddeer.ca/budget2025.
• Earlier and more meaningful public engagement was conducted with more planned for the fall of 2024. The “What we Heard” report from the engagement completed to date is available here.
• Work is also underway on a long-term business and financial systems plan, which will assess our financial health and maturity and identify the actions needed to secure a stronger financial future. More information about the long-term business and financial systems plan is available at reddeer.ca/budget2025.
• Capital and utility budget will be debated October 1. Operating budget will be debated November 18-22.

For more information about Budget 2025, please visit reddeer.ca/budget2025.

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