By Susan MillarPublished: Dec 22, 2013
1. Looking through the 2013-2017 Financial Planning Proposed Operating & Service level document I did not find any reduction of municipal staff, instead there is a proposed increase. Compared to other cities in BC it seems that Squamish is already top heavy in municipal workers, with a massive 49% of the 2013 budget spent on staffing alone. We really need to look at cutting back middle management as we have almost the same number of workers as cities that are double our size:
Penticton –
33000 population
, 178 municipal workers
Campbell River –
31000 population
, 161 municipal workers
Squamish
– 17000 population,
150 municipal workers
Summerland – 11000 population,
70 municipal workers.
2. Municipal workers are paid 30-40% above the wages for the private sector, in fact there are very few jobs in Squamish and the majority are minimum wage. Penticton set an example by at least negotiating with their union workers to agree that new hires start at $5 less hourly than current workers.
We really need to bring the wages in line with the private sector as they are simply unsustainable and the yearly increases ultimately drive up the cost of housing & new business through increases in development fees charged to developers and construction companies. Penticton was able to recover from a sizable deficit, balance their budget and freeze taxes for three years.
Clearly what they have done can also help us and needs to be examined closely. Please see the attached document “Penticton’s Balanced Budget & Tax Freeze” for details & a link to a podcast interview of Penticton’s Mayor & CAO.
3. To stimulate the local economy, the city should be contracting out to local business rather than hiring new union workers. I have attached a document “The Beggars Checklist – A To Do List For Canadian Municipalities” that goes into detail as to how this is cost effective and will save Squamish money.
It also examines several other effective cost reducing measures that need to be undertaken: utilize private/public partnerships for capital projects, sell surplus land/assets, convert services to user fees, allow volunteers to help deliver services, refocus activities on core services, develop sponsorships for services, develop partnerships for the delivery of services and utilize new technology to reduce costs. Rather than reiterate the details here again, I will let you read it yourself.
4. The DOS needs to examine and reduce their spending on consultants ($600,000 in 2012 alone – Squamish Reporter November 2013) in addition to granting pay raises to council members and municipal workers. Neither reflect any fiscal restraint to the public and gather little sympathy or support for raising taxes or cutting services.
5. I have found many departmental studies on Squamish.ca from 2010 and earlier with recommendations on how to improve service, morale, communication, save money, etc., however it seems that there has been very little visible follow through or very few results from these studies. The economic development strategy department has moved at a glacial pace yet they do not lack in funding. The accountability of these departments needs to be more transparent. What’s actually going on to attract new business to Squamish?
We paid an exorbitant $67,200 for a website that should be heavily utilized to attract global investors. I was told this past summer that the council has approved tax incentives for new business, but as of yet no details of these incentives have been posted online. The DOS can learn volumes about how this is done from the excellent marketing strategy on Penticton’s website:
http://www.penticton.ca/EN/
If I was a business doing initial research online whether to invest either Penticton or Squamish, by comparison we appear to be mired in stagnation rather than open for business!
6. Water & sewage rates are extremely high and have increased every year since I bought my 640 sq ft condo in 2006, yet I pay the same rate as a large household with several rental apartments who consume much more water than I do. This is unfair and does not encourage water conservation. Until we can afford to have meters installed I have suggested to council in the past that Squamish adopt the billing method based on property values outlined in “FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEMS IN ONTARIO” -Pricing Structures: “The easiest pricing structure to support is the Property Assessment structure. As municipalities undertake the process of calculating property tax bills and the collection process for their general services, the incorporation of the water costs into this calculation would have virtually no impact on the administrative process and structure.”
One good example of binding legislation is Ontario’s Bill 175, the Sustainable Water and Sewage Act, 2002. This measure compels municipalities to assess the costs of water and sewer services and to recover the money needed to operate, maintain and replace them.
Although this has lead to higher user fees, it has made Ontario’s water and waste water infrastructure financially and environmentally more sustainable. It has also provided consumers an incentive to reduce water use, thereby lowering the cost of future infrastructure investments. Please see the attached docs “Toward more efficient Municipal Government in Canada” & “Financial Management of Municipal Water Systems”.
Thanks for the opportunity to give my input. I hope my suggestions will be seriously considered and implemented.
I believe they are necessary to ensure the growth and sustainability of Squamish. Further tax increases will see more homeowners and businesses leaving, resulting in a diminished tax base to support a top heavy DOS.
Alexandra Suhner Isenberg says
Great article!!
Jean says
Run for council I vote for you
Jean says
Wonderfull… right on
NastyNate says
Impressive and very true!
Michael Kanka says
It’s about time that something is changing in Squamish – to the better, of course.
Mayor, Council, and District Management – this should be an article mandatory to read.
Gailforce says
very good article. i hope the council reads this and the other documents you offer them.
Dolores says
I agree, wonderful article and my sentiments exactly. I am with Jean and would vote for you too!
Rick says
” Further tax increases will see more homeowners and businesses leaving, resulting in a diminished tax base to support a top heavy DOS.”
This is the most important statement in your letter. There is only one main source of income for the DOS and that is the tax payer. And this tax payer will always be that main source.
Squamish needs “Real” leadership from their elected Mayor and Council. This town belongs to the property owners and tax payers. Not Staff or the consultants and developers that have turned to our town for quick profits and then leave us with under sized infastucture, traffic issues and no real employment.
Yes, Staff (middle/upper/exempt) must be reduced to effectively get a handle on or tax increases. As far as the real workers go, the ones that actually do the day to day work in the streets, I think we might be in line with the averages. I’m not too sure what the above numbers take into account, staff and workers or just staff or just workers but most of us know that staff levels are way too heavy for our little town. But we are the first to complain when our street is not plowed.
So what do we do? How about changing the focus from bringing more people to town (Real estate based) to bringing employment to town. I mean real jobs. The proposed LNG plant at Woodfiber is a great start. A Rail head and a Deep sea port within our district! Talk about opportunity there.
Merry Christams
Eric Andersen says
“How about changing the focus from bringing more people to town (Real estate based) to bringing employment to town.” — Thanks for this, Rick. I find it lonely trying to promote this idea — this basic fact of the opportunity in our unique location. Building condos on scarce strategic employment lands for long-distance commuters is poor strategy, I think.
Dave says
A great article, well done!
But hey, read the new lead article on SODC Consultants….WOW! No wonder this District is strapped for money to pay for essential services, infrastructure etc. So many times they rarely take any notice of the consultants anyway, going on to find new ones. Go back a few decades and work forward and you’ll see what I mean….I despair!
I am very curious to see what kind of an education is required to be a “Consultant”….like how many mail order courses you have to take etc. I may have made a wrong set of choices in mine….ah well 🙂
Dave says
Ok Guys. I alerted Council about this discussion and at least two had no idea about it.
SO, if you want input then DO NOT RELY JUST ON THESE FORUMS TO AIR YOUR VIEWS! Send a letter to all Council members and exercise your democratic rights OR DON’T COMPLAIN!
I had assumed that Susan had actually sent this article to Council….Perhaps she didn’t?
Susan Millar says
Thanks for your feedback. I did send this letter & documents in an email to the mayor and council when they requested budget feedback, but never got a response from anyone except for an auto reply that it was received. In frustration I decided to send it to the Squamish Reporter in the hope that it would start a discussion and lead to positive action.
Susan Millar says
By the way, if anyone one wants to see the documents please send me your email and I will forward them to you. Let the DOS know what you think!
Gailforce says
hi susan,
i would be interested in reading your documents. would you please forward them to me at gabriolawaterfront@yahoo.ca
thanks,
gail
Susan Millar says
Hi Gail, I just sent them to you. Please let me know if you didn’t receive them.
Thanks,
Susan
heather gee says
Thanks for that well-researched letter.
I truly hope it’s a wake-up call to Council – except that extra people and exorbitant fees continue to be paid out…
heather gee says
Instead of spending our money of trips to China, Japan, or where ever, Council should be making more realistic comparisons with similar communities – as Susan Millar did. Yes, and then act on that knowledge instead of accumulating more debt and allowing our community’s roads, or dykes, for example, to deteriorate to the point of being unsafe.
Trish says
Susan, run for council girl!!! You’d have a ton of votes!!
G_h says
Amen to this. Thanks for taking time to write and research your letter, Susan.
Oliver says
Hi Susan,
I agree with the overall theme of your article. However, this caught my eye:
“We paid an exorbitant $67,200 for a website”
Are you saying that 67,200 is a lot of money to spend full stop
or
Are you saying that 67,200 was a lot of money to pay for the new website – if so can you further explain how you are coming to this conclusion?
Ayup says
67k isn’t out of the ordinary for a professional quality website of that size. Regardless, thanks Susan for taking the time to put together a well researched comparative analysis. It’s much needed.
TJay says
Union people are scum are they ?….