It’s municipal budget time and 2021 looks like it’s going to be a doozy.
We knew this was coming. After council made big cuts to last year’s budget in order to cushion the blow to Jasper ratepayers’ wallets in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was going to be no other way out of the hole than to crawl right back up the way we came.
Understandably, council doesn’t like the optics of having to pass a 20 or 30 per cent increase over 2020 figures, but however you choose to look at it, $9 million, the ask from staff to put in a “best practices” budget, is a lot of money.
It may be that some relief will be felt as administration figures out what costs will be covered by the recent federal and provincial Municipal Operating Support Transfer (MOST) funding, relief money given to municipalities dealing with pandemic-associated expenses. But by and large, just like every other municipality and city in Alberta, we’re on the hook for regular operating costs.
Unlike most other towns and cities, however, Jasper is going about its financial planning process upside-down.
Instead of municipal managers presenting their operational budget and the associated sticker price, they’re first asking council what sort of number they’re comfortable with, with the intention of designing their services around that number. Think of it like going into a car dealership with a maximum dollar amount one is willing to spend, then telling the salesperson you need a vehicle that tailors to that figure. You’d be setting yourself up to get hosed!
Municipalities, like cars, need regular maintenance. Things inevitably come up. If your brakes start to squeal and you didn’t budget for new pads and rotors, then what? The calipers wear out and you hit the ditch, that’s what!
Is it not more prudent to take a look at your transportation needs and create your budget from there?
How can councillors pretend to know the ability of local residents to pay their taxes? Of course ratepayers want municipal operations to be as efficient as possible, but that doesn’t mean we want council to project their concerns onto our capacity to pay. This is what happened last time around when councillors decided on that nice, round figure in the wake of the pandemic.
That $7,000,000 tax requisition might look slick on paper, and it might have made officials feel better to know they saved homeowners a few hundred bucks, but when it comes down to it, it’s a completely arbitrary figure. Not to mention that the hotels whose money they were so bent on saving were full all summer and local landlords—as well as every other Canadian with a pulse—qualified for emergency subsidies.
Instead of building an operational budget starting from another arbitrary number, why not have staff create a budget to reflect the services required to operate the municipality? Then you can debate the finer points of what constituents are telling you they want and need, instead of scrutinizing every toilet brush and oil change.
Jasper councillors have expressed their queasiness with the proposed budget figures (Council staring down steep budget hikes, November 1).
Sorry gang, but you made this bed. Now it’s time to lay in it. Considering the pressure it’s going to put on local ratepayers, hopefully you can get some sleep.
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
