Dean Krejci (Supplied photo)

By Josh Hall

Pencil down after more than 30 years

Red Deer’s chief financial officer calling it a career

Dec 8, 2020 | 11:40 AM

The City of Red Deer’s chief financial officer is turning off his calculator after three decades with the municipality.

Last week, Dean Krejci finished overseeing his final set of capital and operating budgets, and can now set his sights on April 30, 2021 – his final day with the City since being hired in March 1991 as an accounts receivable supervisor.

“It’s a big relief, especially given the final budget was a multi-year process,” he admits.

Krecji moved on to systems and risk management later in the 90s, then became involved with budget in 2001. He was made Financial Services Manager in 2007 and added Chief Financial Officer to his title in 2012.

A commerce grad from the University of Alberta in 1984, Krejci articled in Red Deer and became a chartered accountant in 1989.

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Dean Krejci graduated from the University of Alberta in 1984. (Supplied photo)

“CFO has certainly been a challenging role. I’m always cognizant of the fact I’m dealing with taxpayer funds, and that we’re trying to ensure those are spent in a good way,” he says. “As well, it’s key that any surplus funds are invested safety so we get some return on them without an extreme amount of risk.”

He says establishing the City’s debt repayment reserve earlier this decade is one achievement he’ll look back on fondly as it allows council to take on additional debt for projects knowing there’s a pot of money to be able to pay that debt back each year.

“I’ve enjoyed how multi-faceted the job is. In addition to the budget, procurement, financial systems and financial reporting, asset management, and grants are all under my portfolio,” explains Krejci. “I’ve never had to worry about being bored.”

Mayor Tara Veer has worked with Krejci since her first election to city council in 2004, and they have worked closely as well in her former role as chair of the audit committee

“Dean has been an outstanding civil servant. He cares about our community deeply and has applied sound financial decision-making and strategic thinking to his recommendations,” Veer says. “Over the past few years, we have really positioned the city toward becoming the financially sustainable city we need it to be, and have strengthened our infrastructure position because we’ve been able to leverage grants from other orders of government. A lot of that is a credit to Dean, his professionalism and integrity, and he’ll be missed. We thank him for his outstanding service to the city of Red Deer.”

As for what Krejci will miss most about his time with the City, it’ll be his coworkers, he shares.

“You get to work with a large number of very good people here; people that that work very hard to deliver services to the citizens of Red Deer,” he says.

“I just plan on enjoying this marvelous city over the summer, I’ll do some golfing, spend time on the trail system, and then in the fall, I’ll look for some volunteer activities.