The County of Barrhead will now follow a new process for the development of an operating budget that will include an online public consultation, several budget workshops involving councillors and the approval of interim budget by Dec. 15.
Councillors unanimously passed a motion approving the 2021 draft budget schedule during their Aug. 18 meeting.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said one of the most important responsibilities of council in a given year is approving the municipality’s operating and capital budgets, as well as various other multi-year plans and strategies.
“And having said that, it’s important for council to be on board and supportive of the process which gets us to the budget,” she said.
Historically, the County of Barrhead has approved an interim budget prior to approving a final operating budget. This interim budget (which was $10 million this year) is usually around 60 to 70 per cent of the previous year’s budget, Oyarzun said.
“It’s just been a number to start with … with the final budget being approved in detail in April,” she said.
When portions of the operating budget needed to be approved ahead of the final budget being set, such as the Road Maintenance Program, individual motions would be brought before council.
On Aug. 13, the Committee of the Whole met to discuss following a new budget process for 2021. Director of finance and administration Tamara Molzahn said this new process is similar to the one used for 2020, but with a couple of key differences.
First off, Molzahn said council will actually see the draft budget twice before approving an interim budget; previously, they would only see it once.
Instead of a placeholder $10 million figure, the interim budget will now reflect more of a “base budget approach” with actual figures for services, programs, infrastructure and related costs.
As well, Molzahn said there will be a public consultation conducted online in October that will be similar to the consultation done by the county in April.
Finally, this process allows for council to approve the county’s budget before approving various committee budgets.
“Based on that, we believe that this timeline gives you the opportunity to thoroughly review and analyze all the information for administration to develop that 2020 budget,” she said.
Oyarzun noted that approving a more precise interim budget gives a more clear direction to administration.
She acknowledged that there are some “tremendous uncertainties” this year with the province considering a new assessment model for the oil and gas industry that could result in the county losing anywhere between $520,000 to $890,000 in 2021, as well as the generally poor state of the economy.
Even so, Oyarzun said they would still recommend that council pass an interim budget by the end of December, and then adjust it if needed once there’s a clearer picture of what revenues in 2021 would look like.
Coun. Walter Preugschas commented that this new process looked to him as though it would improve clarity for the county’s operations and increase efficiency.
Reeve Doug Drozd agreed, adding that while he likes the concept of reaching a final budget quickly because it gives total clarity, this year is “probably not the year to do it.”
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