MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Council is expected to consider a 3.2 cost of living adjustment (COLA) for staff and council at next week’s council meeting, says reeve Angela Aalbers.
If approved, it would have a $350,000 impact on the budget. Council considered the matter at a special council meeting on Nov. 14.
Reeve Aalbers says council has a number of factors to take into account when considering COLA for 2023.
“Council has directed administration to use the COLA increase of 3.2 per cent to prepare the budget for the December 14 council meeting,” said Aalbers. “At that meeting we will see all of the inflationary impacts to our service programs and then we can include that and have a look at the entire interim operating budget and the capital budget as a whole.
“We appreciate that in this day and age probably financial is not the entire picture of what staff are looking for, so the workplace environment, safety, respect and trying to be the employer of choice, as well as the work-life balance, which is a huge part of retaining staff now.”
Council’s role is to “look at the financial impact and trying to balance, which is really difficult in this day and age with inflation above six per cent,” she said.
In a briefing note tabled during the special council meeting, chief administrative officer Jeff Holmes said, “Each year the county reviews the general economic conditions and makes recommendations regarding cost of living adjustments to salaries and wages.
“The consumer price index has been used as a general indicator of economic conditions. The purpose of COLA adjustments is to ensure that Mountain View County wage grids remain competitive with other municipalities.”
By way of comparison, Clearwater County has proposed a 3.5 per cent COLA increase and Red Deer County has proposed a 2.0 per cent COLA increase for 2023.
The county’s COLA increase in 2022 was 2.5 per cent, with the county increasing COLA by 16.1 per cent over the last 10 years.
Asked if council has decided on a 2023 tax rate, reeve Aalbers said, “Staff is still working on the inflationary impact, so until we see that it is really difficult to say if there is an increase that is needed.
“That discussion will come on Dec. 14 when we might see a little bit of direction on what that is going to look at.”
Other budget considerations
Also during the the special meeting, council was given an overview of proposed budget projects for 2023 from the county’s four departments: CAO, legislative services, planning and development, and operations.
The departments are projecting total project costs of $17,375,430, according documents presented at the Nov. 23 meeting.
The legislative, community and agricultural services project sheets include $145,000 for an additional patrol officer.
“Currently administration has provided this project sheet on the basis that council is seeking to increase the amount of visibility in officers by providing greater coverage throughout the week and not to provide greater resources within the existing schedule,” the sheet states.
“Any changes to the CPO (community peace officer) complement would require amendments to the current operations of the department which may have other considerations such as historic scheduling practices.”
The corporate services 2023 project sheets include $15,000 for financial system analysis.
“This is a multi-year project to transition to a new financial system. Estimated costs are $15,000 in the first year. Should we decide to go with the Sylogist solution the anticipated expense is $150,000 and an operating cost of $83,000. Our current annual licensing cost is $118,000.”
The planning and development services project sheets include $5,000 for area structure plan review.
“To keep statutory plans up to date, planning and development is recommending the following ASB reviews using administrative resources unless a terms of reference approved by council identify technical studies that require external resources for the next three year: 2023 Water Valley Winchell Lake; 2024 Bergen; 2025 Olds/Didsbury airport.”
The majority of the projects are in the operational services department, with proposed expenses totalling $16,674,400.
Funding for the projects would come from a variety of sources, including general revenue and grants.
