(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

Council confusion

BUDGET: Over $1 million proposed investment per year for Strategic Plan roll-out

Nov 29, 2022 | 9:53 AM

The first and main resolutions proposed by administration at Red Deer’s 2023-2024 budget deliberations on Monday related to the future of the Strategic Plan.

However, many councillors voiced confusion over the new budget process. Rather than a micro-detailed budget binder, this year council was provided with a broader summary of the operating and capital budgets, in an attempt to increase efficiency and make deliberations less time consuming.

“The fact that 100,111 Red Deerians have not read the budget, and wouldn’t understand it if they did, makes it all the more important that we understand it and know what services are delivered, at what cost and for what benefit,” said Councillor Victor Doersken.

City Manager Tara Lodewyk said as this year’s budget is more “maintenance” related with minor changes to the previous year, the idea was to have council focus on broad priorities and decisions, leaving administration to adjust the details.

She said one of the main focuses of the budget were the resolutions for the future of the Strategic Plan.

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Council previously guided administration to allocate $750,000 for both 2023 and 2024 towards the plan. The City suggested spending an additional $358,609 each year to accomplish their goals.

Council’s Strategic Plan proposed resolutions on investments (2023-2024 Capital & operating Budget p.37)

The Dashboards, the City says, will provide a tool to report internally and externally on how key outcomes in the Plan are being measured and progressing in real time.

The Annual Benchmarking Survey aims to focus on service delivery to residents and measure their satisfaction with programs and initiatives. This data, The City says, will inform the Plan’s annual status report.

The Customer Experience Modernization analyzes the current and potential future tools provided to citizens to communicate easily with the City.

The Public Participation Coordinator aims to continue the momentum the City currently has, they say, in engaging with the public.

Several councillors questioned the utility of the above funding.

“The question that arose multiple times in our public’s response, and in my own mind, is ‘are these need-to-haves or are these nice-to -haves’?” said Councillor Vesna Higham.

Lodewyk stated that not only have residents shared that they enjoy the various ways they can communicate with The City electronically, but reports used over the year such as the “What We Heard” report for the permanent shelter and surveys for the Master Plan, have been “invaluable”.

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Lodewyk says the City needs to fill the information gap and communicate with the public what they are doing behind the scenes to advance as a growing city.

“We have an amazing city; we’re not competing at the level we need to be competing and we’re still running an organization like we’re 50,000 people. We’re 100,000 people in this community. We’re one of the largest employers and we’re falling behind. If we want to be attractive and competitive, we need to up our game and we need to move from being reactive to proactive,” she said.

Other investments included the human resource capacity and digital modernization of The City’s hybrid workforce.

Councillor Dianne Wyntjes questioned the necessity for remote workers and their impacts on employee relationships. The City confirmed 181 workers are listed as remote, which they say also makes positions more attractive to future employees.

While protective services were also discussed, administration and City Fire Chief Ken McMullen were asked to bring back detailed briefs for Tuesday’s deliberations regarding Emergency Medical Services and RCMP contracts.

Before making any decisions or amendments, council will first complete discussions of the entire budget.