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By rdnewsNOW Staff

$20 MILLION NEEDED FOR 2025

City council considers service levels ahead of budget debate

Sep 5, 2024 | 8:58 AM

As part of an updated budget process for 2025, city council has reviewed and identified 24 service levels they would like to see administration provide full reports on when it comes time for budget debate in November.

In the regular council meeting on Sept. 3, which continued into Sept. 4, council received a report outlining the risks, impacts, and opportunities relating to 37 service levels they have identified for possible changes and narrowed these down to top priorities.

The initial 37 areas were identified from the City’s total 275 service levels through an engagement exercise with council over the summer. This approach to the budget process is new to Red Deer city council.

“The notion of reviewing of service levels in the interest of reducing expenses is not new to our budget process, we’ve simply moved it earlier in the process,” said Mike Olesen, general manager of growth and finance. “In previous years, council would often bring forward these suggestions during the budget debate, but that didn’t leave enough time for the kind of rigorous analysis needed to make sound decisions. This new process gives administration time to hear from council early on and build solid analysis in advance of the budget debate.”

City officials say this review of service levels is necessary as they look to every option to balance the budget. They estimate that $20 million is needed to balance the 2025 budget and say property tax and utility fees can only cover a portion of this.

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“The other factor we need to look at is the $20 million number is an estimation and there is risk in relation to that $20 million number. What I have encouraged everyone involved in this process, from staff members to council, is to remember that we’ve got to get going on contributing to our reserves in addition to balancing our operating,” said Olesen, “so we have a much bigger challenge in front of us than just $20 million and I don’t say that lightly; I recognize the gravity of that much change in our budget.”

Service levels of note that council moved to receive further information on for debate include automated traffic enforcement, concrete rehabilitation, public facilities and amenities, municipal census reporting, and turf maintenance.

The entire list of resolutions made can be found here.

Olesen explained that administration may still need to look outside of these 24 identified priorities to balance the budget, meaning the goal was not to find $20 million that can be made up from these items alone. Rather, they will direct what administration will prioritize and ensure council has adequate information to make informed decisions in November.

Following the Sept. 3-4 meetings, the City is expected to seek community feedback and return to council with a What We Heard report ahead of the November budget debate.

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