City council received the first phase of a review of all city operations ahead of budget deliberations on Monday.
The city hired consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) to conduct a $1-million fiscal and operational review to examine current programs and service levels, while finding ways to cut back on spending.
Community services, economic development, the chief administrative officer's office, recreational and parks, transit, strategic services, IT and environment were all included in the first phase, which equates to about 32 per cent of the city’s total operations and expenses.
The first review detailed 20 high-level business cases across seven departments with a cost-benefit analysis over three years. The city had already identified and acted on a number of short-term recommendations, so the review primarily focused on medium- to long-term opportunities, according to the report.
"At this point, we have not attempted to prioritize the business cases as part of Phase 1, and we haven't assessed the city's capacity to take on all of the initiatives. That will need to be done through a prioritization exercise during Phase 2," said Mohamed Bhamani, associate partner with EY.
Examples of business cases slated for next year include incorporating a sliding scale fee for people receiving Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) counselling services, exploring partnerships with neighbouring municipalities on new recreational facilities, and leveraging strategic procurement opportunities for bulk resources like fuel or personal protective equipment.
Many of the opportunities identified have already been considered and some are currently being acted on by the city, according to administration. For example, the city is already in discussions with the City of Edmonton and Sturgeon County to explore partnership opportunities for future rec facilities.
Despite this, Kerry Hilts, deputy chief administrative officer, said the review provided the city additional information, insight and direction for how to move forward.
"One of the objectives going back to the third party review is to ensure that we're not missing any opportunities that we're considering, or we're looking at it through a different lens of delivering services. I think there's a lot of value in that," Hilts said.
"We put in some fairly aggressive timelines and we were looking at what opportunities to mesh out, but I think that they provided us with a solid case for moving forward in the medium- to long-term."
Right now, city administration is working on moving forward with two opportunities, including upgrades to the Arden Theatre ticketing system, which is already in progress, and a directive for city staff to bring their own cellphones instead of getting one through work.
If approved during budget deliberations on Dec. 1, having staff to bring their own cellphones could save the city $15,000 next year and a combined $135,000 over the next two years. A detailed implementation plan would then be developed during the first quarter of 2021.
"We're taking those first steps forward now to really look at and fully analyze the opportunities that EY presented to us," Hilts said.
The second phase would take a deeper dive into the rest of city operations, including planning and development, legal and legislative, utilities, financial services, engineering services, public works, emergency services, and human resources and safety departments.
The second phase will also explore new revenue opportunities for the city, which could include a feasibility study for a municipally owned utility corporation should Coun. Ray Watkin's motion pass on Dec. 21. For more on that motion, see Page 10.
The second phase review is expected to be complete by June 30, 2021, ahead of the 2022 budget.
