WESTLOCK – Westlock County wants to know what its neighbouring municipalities are charging for things ranging from a wastewater disposal fee licence, to a litre of aviation fuel and will use that information during Budget 2023 discussions.
Interim CAO Pat Vincent told councillors at their June 21 governance and priorities meeting that each department will compare their fees and charges to other similar municipalities and “ensure this information is ready for budget deliberations” — at the May 24 regular council meeting, council had requested administration to compare the county’s fees and charges to neighbouring municipalities.
“Benchmarking is an excellent practice and is used by many municipalities and I strongly support and encourage it,” Vincent told councillors.
Vincent said they haven’t selected which municipalities they’ll use, but they likely be neighbouring ones like Athabasca, Thorhild and Barrhead who they see “as competitors as we’re trying to attract business to Westlock County.”
“It’s a little more difficult to use say Sturgeon County because they’re much larger and have a broader spectrum of programs and services, but we may be looking at them as well,” he said.
“Ultimately, we want to ensure our fees and charges are in line, if not lower and more attractive for potential customers.”
