Westlock County’s 2014 budget shows council’s most significant priority this year will be infrastructure improvements for the municipality’s roadways, and a balanced budget that won’t draw on reserves.
Reeve Bud Massey said this year’s capital and operating budgets represent a responsible use of the public money.
“It has shifted our priorities more toward infrastructure, but has done so without a mill rate increase,” he said, noting there may still be tax increases due to assessment changes.
Council approved the capital and operating budgets at its May 27 meeting, although some details of the document’s contents have not been made available to the public.
A summary of the budget showing net increases and decreases on a department-by-department basis was presented at the meeting, but some specific information about where money was cut or added is being withheld.
Interim CAO Rick McDonald did not respond to repeated requests for an interview last week, but said in an e-mail a detailed line-item budget would not be made available to the public because of “the size and potential legal, personnel and contract issues that require due care and attention.”
Massey and county finance manager Peggy Hardinge met with the Westlock News to discuss some of the changes, but wouldn’t talk about all of them.
One department that saw a significant funding reduction in 2014 was community peace officer services — a 50-per-cent reduction to $76,900.
Massey would not say what part of that department’s budget was cut.
“We had talked about a reduction in the level of services from the peace officer department,” he said, but wouldn’t say why one peace officer would cost $150,000 last year and half that this year. He did say the county wouldn’t enforce weights and measures on commercial vehicles this year, but conceded it doesn’t cost $75,000 to enforce those.
“I’m trying to defer the question,” Massey said.
Another department to see a significant reduction is fire protective services, which saw its budget reduced by 38 per cent to $392,670.
Some of the reduction can be attributed to cutting a $38,000 transfer to capital reserves, a $50,000 reduction in hired services (such as hiring bobcats for support), $10,000 less for training, and cutting the $3,000 Fire Smart program. Hardinge said there are other “miscellaneous reductions” also.
“It will not affect the level of service,” Massey said, noting that any difference between the budgeted expenditures and what’s ultimately needed depending on how many fires there are this year can be covered from reserves.
The transportation services department shows a net budget reduction of about 12.3 per cent in the county’s money being spent, but Hardinge explained that number is misleading. The net change includes substantially more grant funding going into the department, which translates to a reduction in municipal contributions.
Recreation services saw a $100,000 reduction, which Massey attributed to the decision to place less emphasis on recreation and more on transportation — a large portion of that reduction is attributable to cutting the recreation services manager position. Former manager Adam Esch left the county, and will not be replaced.
A significant change that has taken place across all departments is the removal of transfers to reserves. Massey said he wasn’t worried about whether that choice will be sustainable. “The budget is on an annual basis, so this year we chose to allocate money into a different priority,” he said. “Next year those decisions may change, so we don’t have to be concerned about it being sustainable other than this year.”
The county’s total reserves as listed in the 2013 audited financial statement show about $4.4 million each for capital reserves and operating reserves.
In the capital budget, there will be significantly less money spent than in 2013. Last year, the county budgeted $13.1 million for capital projects while this year it’s only $6.6 million.
There were several large capital projects last year, such as the ski chalet project, that required transfers from reserves and debentures, which accounts for some of the difference.
Massey said council has tried to minimize spending money from reserves and taking on debt to fund projects, and to put a greater emphasis on transportation services — which accounts for $4.7 million. That is in large part funded through the provincial Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant.
“Even though it doesn’t cause an increase in taxes, it’s a matter of picking a priority where you’re going to spend that grant money,” he said. “If you’re going to have a fire truck, it’s not like you get some brand-new money, it’s the MSI that comes in. If you spend it on a fire truck, you can’t spend it on a bridge.”
Specific capital projects put on hold to redirect these funds into transportation include a new fire engine in Clyde.
