BARRHEAD - Barrhead and District Family Community Support Services (FCSS) is one step closer to receiving the budget increase they are asking for.
Town of Barrhead councillors unanimously approved the FCSS 2023 operational budget of $553,148.50 with a municipal contribution of $75,500 following a presentation by executive director Karen Gariepy during the Nov. 22 regular meeting.
The amount marks a 10.2 per cent or $7,000 increase over the municipality's 2022 contribution. Gariepy will make the same ask of the County of Barrhead council in early December, she said.
Gariepy noted the bulk of the increase is slated for a five per cent cost of living allowance (COLA) staff wage increase, up from the one per cent staff received last year.
She noted since the Barrhead currently does not have a pay grid scale the COLA increases are the only one's staff receive.
The budget FCSS presented to the town represents the traditional 80/20 base programming funding that it shares with the province. The province restricts the use of this funding to base-preventative programming. The province provides 80 per cent of the organizations base operating funding while the municipalities provide a minimum of 20 per cent, which in the case of Barrhead, is split evenly between the town and county.
However, as Barrhead's FCSS is a not-for-profit society, it operates several community-funded programs, such as the food bank and Santa's Toy Box. Gariepy noted that this budget is also upwards of $500,000, with the FCSS combined budget of over $1 million.
"I have trimmed everywhere I can," she said, adding she made cuts to staff training and travel, advertising, office supplies, vehicle and building maintenance.
In addition to overall rising inflationary costs, some of the more substantial hits include increases in insurance, which almost doubled, as did Workers Compensation Board (WCB) premiums.
And while those premiums have increased dramatically, Gariepy noted they are somewhat fortunate in that they were still under the industry standard.
She also noted that due to the increase in premiums of their employee benefits package, on both the employer and employee end, FCSS may be forced to cut back what they provide.
"We, as an organization, and our employees, can't afford it anymore," Gariepy said.
She also noted that FCSS did not meet the projected revenue targets for several programs. Gariepy specifically referred to the senior support program, which helps seniors stay in their homes longer by offering light-housekeeping services at a subsidized rate.
"Unfortunately, we have had a lot of our clients, seniors, pass away, or move into assisted living over the last year that we did not anticipate, so our revenue is down in that area," Gariepy said.
However, she said they were still able to meet their budget due to staff transitions and vacancies that remained unfilled for a period.
For 2023, FCSS pegs the provincial contribution at $315,423, prompting
Coun. Dave Sawatzky to ask when the province last increased its contribution.
Gariepy said it was nine years, and if the three-year contract she signed with the province is any indication, it will not be increasing anytime soon.
"But I recently received an e-mail from our representative on the (Family Community Support Services Association of Alberta) asking if the province increases its portion, could the municipalities increase their portion," she said.
Gariepy replied that there was no need for the Barrhead municipalities to increase their contributions as their contribution accounts for well over their required 20 per cent but that she took the rep's comment as a potentially good sign that the province would up its contribution.
"I am crossing my fingers that once they review their priorities along with their new accountability framework, the province will increase our funding and provide us with stability for at least three years so we can figure not only where we are heading, but where our programming may have to shift to," she said.
