Monday, April 15, 2013

Crowsnest Pass The real numbers!

Last week I wrote about the bungled discovery of a 5.23% assessment base drop six momths into the budget process. http://crowsnestpasshome.blogspot.ca/2013/04/incompetence-creates-opportunity.html

Today we have a special meeting of council to see administrations recommendations to solve the $295,000 shortfall. Administration brings backs three options:

Option 1 Spending cuts of $295,000 including eliminating $100,000 for the York Creek Lodge Reserve, $57,000 by shutting the Albert Stella Arena, $52,000 eliminating banners and the rest in smaller cuts.

Option 2 Spending cuts of $193,000 and $102,000 raised from additional mill rate increases beyond the 2.5% placed in the original tri annual budget

Option 3 Spending cuts of $193,000 and $102,000 coming out of reserves.

After the presentation of these options and the explanation behind each, Council asked a series of questions including a number of areas in the budget that had seen substantial increases from 2012 to 2013 (Councilor Saindon asked some very good questions). At this point administration requested some time to get the answers Mayor Decoux recessed for thirty minutes.
At 3:20 the meeting began again CAO Thompson supplied the answers to the previously asked questions. At this point Councilor Saindon raised a concern about himself and the CAO working with different numbers. After some banter back and forth between administration and Councilor Saindon it appears that Council and administration were working with different numbers. Everybody is scrambling, to which the CAO requests that this debate be carried on tomorrow at the G+P meeting. Council will be supplied with the real numbers tonight.  
First the Assessment base was of by 3.23% now nobody is working from the same page never had a real debate on which option to move forward with.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wished I could'a been there, but I had to work. Hope to get off in time for the G&P tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Options 2 and 3 ? 193000 in spending cuts where?
They are working with differant numbers.What a joke they have become.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't seem possible does it.

Anonymous said...

Good to see councillors finally not taking what they are told for granted and are asking questions. Hard to imagine the Mayor was ready to accept the budget last week. There is no need to rush to a decision without a good discussion and examination of all the options.
The councillors should not be satisfied until they get answers to all their questions. It looked like the Mayor and the administration tried to bury the council with numbers and jargon.

This should not be happening this late in the budget process, but it is better to ask all the questions than to make a bad decision.

Anonymous said...

Six months in to the process and this is going on. We are in trouble, they are only asking tough questions now because it,s an election year.

Anonymous said...

Here's a suggestion; hire a competent CFO, and we will save $30,000 in overtime spent from her staying all night trying to figure out inaccurate numbers. I'm sure there is more savings to be had if u keep that ax handy at that town office door!

Anonymous said...

First of all who built this community??Seniors living in the York Creek Lodge. To take 100K our of their reserves is an insult. I can think of a few Directors jobs or managers jobs 3 in fact that could be eliminated and voila...300K saved. We don't need both directors and managers. This council is waiting for the influx of 100,000 to move here tomorrow and they have all their ducks in a row from directors to managers to field personell peace keepers, bylaws up the yin yang etc. etc. And it just aint gonna happen In fact more people are going to leave. To close the Albert Stella arena would just put our kids out on the streets with too much time on their hands. Get real people and do the job you were elected to do and that is to make the best decisions for the citizens of this community who have you forgotten you work for!

Anonymous said...

From the April 8 minutes:

M#6830-13: Councillor Saindon moved that Administration be directed to bring back a revised budget which includes a 4% decrease in the Operating Budget.
CARRIED


Don't touch the Capital Budget. Would those $200,000 entrance billboards be in the Capital Budget?

(And BTW, it was not the usual "CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY", although no councillor had the temerity to request a recorded vote.)

Anonymous said...

Well the BS is finally catching up to maid Marion......
Is Myron now to be known as friar tucker or sheriff Nottingham... We all know Decoux thinks he is King Richard...

Anonymous said...

what does misty shitz think about this hahaha

Anonymous said...

Anon.. 8:30pm
If the $30k in overtime is accurate then someone should be reviewing the senior staff policy because if she is a salaried employee then why is she entitled to OT. In the municipality where I work if you put in 40 or 50 hours per week you got paid the same! there might be a time where you can have a long weekend once in a while but that’s it.
It’s also funny that when a pervious CFO made errors Marion was all over him telling everybody how incompetent he was, look who is calling the kettle black

Crowsnest Pass Home said...

Management are all on salary they do not receive overtime pay. At least not from 2004-2010 they didn't.

Anonymous said...

Management never receives overtime last I knew. And they never should. It is included in all their benefits and salary, unlike some.

Anonymous said...

Cutting off overtime for hourly people is different than working overtime as a salaried person. So, how do we find out if the salaried highly paid Administrators got paid any overtime or received other bonuses or incentives? Should be NO overtime for them, that's why they are paid the big bucks. Maybe driving the new trucks everywhere?

Anonymous said...

They get one additional week of holiday per year to cover council meetings and overtime. Sounds reasonable until you note that the minimum holiday period is 4 weeks with the adder of the other week. Senior staff get 6 weeks plus the other week. Pretty good perks compared to the real world where the Average is 3 maybe 4 weeks.

Anonymous said...

No, most senior people get 6 weeks, plus in the real world.
This does not bother me.

Anonymous said...

With 6 weeks of annual vacation plus the Stat Holidays, one can stretch time off to over 11 weeks off. Add a few days of sick leave and 13 weeks (1/4) of the year is gone. Then there is the other senior staff on stress leave, which leaves a gaping hole in management services.

The stress part is caused by previous personal issues, self induced stress (fixing up the screw ups) and misguided policies, This works down into the Administration system and the rest of the staff feels overworked, misused and underpaid. Not to mention seeing all those new trucks coming and going. Morale reaches a low as does performance. Oh, and throw in a megalomaniac Mayor and Yes Man Council who keep the pot over boiling for Administraion. Welcome to the CNP Municipality. Is this really the real world?

Anonymous said...

Thats a lot of stat holidays you must have miscalculated.Stats should equate to a little better than 2 weeks off,not 5.

Anonymous said...

Just what are "Senior people". 6 weeks! Wow, I've never heard of that. To me, if we can do without them for 6 weeks, then do we really need them??

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:42PM You are correct, it should be closer to 9 weeks, considering 12 stat days, and when one considers the weeks where the stat holidays shorten the week and vacation days taken during these weeks. I liked that part. My mistake. 10:17 AM

Anonymous said...

Yesterday they voted for:

Option 2: Provides for a tax increase for negative growth of $ 102,000.00 (residential 3.8% and non-residential 4.9%) combined with a budget decrease of $ 193,000. The $ 193,000 proposed decrease could come from the following areas:

•$ 5,000 reduction to Senior’s Tax Rebate- with assessments similar to 2008 there would be fewer owners qualifying.
•$ 100,0000 reduction to York Creek Capital Project Reserve
•$ 10,000 reduction in Cemetery Expansion
•$ 52,000 reduction in Float and Banners
•$ 1,000 for the Centennial Building-Painting exterior
•$ 23,500 reduction for Gravel and Gravel Haul
•$ 25,000 reduction in Sewer Cameraing
•$ 38,250 addition for the Town Rounder
•$ 14,750 reduction in Travel and General Supplies


What's with the addition for the Town Rounder?
In 2012, the Town Rounder cost about $90,000 minus $12,000 (fares) = $78,000. Most of that was $65,000 in wages and benefits.

It was "CARRIED", not "UNANIMOUSLY", but no recorded vote - did you see who voted against?

Anonymous said...

I don't understand. We're going ahead with the highway brand signs, and we're cutting out the other stuff? This doesn't make any sense to me. Well, I guess it makes sense, but certainly not the common kind. I'm shaking my head.