TAMRMS#: B06
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Total Advertising Budget
Notice given by: Mayor Heron
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BUDGET POSTPONED MOTION:
recommendation
That the total advertising budget for the corporation is reduced by 10%. Not sure what that number is but according to BIR-010-2020 the budget in 2019 was $1,202,700
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POSTPONED MOTION ADMINISTRATIVE BACKGROUNDER
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Administration’s Understanding of Intent Motion:
Administration understands that the motion is to reduce the overall corporation advertising budget by 10 percent or a total of $120,200.
Operational or Organizational Impacts if Motion is Approved:
When determining specifically what types of advertisements will be impacted by this motion, to ensure a thoughtful long-term approach, administration must consider various factors to ensure there are no unintended consequences by making across the board reductions. Some of the items that must be considered are:
1. Changing or reducing advertising dollars associated with marketing of revenue generating projects and programs could reduce those programs ability to meet revenue targets.
2. The current estimate of $120,200 is 10 percent of everything in code 6160 Advertising and Promotion. In some departments this amount also includes business development, sponsor contract activation, donations from the community, etc, all of which are more promotional in nature. Therefore, additional investigation would be required to determine the exact amount allocated specifically to advertising.
3. Adequate budget needs to remain in departments required to follow legislative requirements unless a bylaw is passed to allow this.
4. Given past feedback on the use of the print version of the Gazette, administration does not recommend completely cancelling Citylights as some people still rely on print as their primary source of information however consideration could be given to scaling back the weekly Citylights advertising in the Gazette. Please see BIR 42-2020 for a breakdown of these costs.
If this motion passes, Administration will work with individual department to determine where these reductions can be made with the least amount of impact to programs and residents.
Financial Implications of Motions:
The financial impact of the motion would result in a $120,200 overall reduction to the 2020 tax requirement.
Stakeholder Consultations:
To date, the public has not been engaged in discussions regarding the use of advertising in St. Albert and there are no plans to at this time.
Background:
Advertising budgets are currently spread out across applicable departments in the corporation and are directly allocated to specific projects and programs. The size and allocation of each budget is determined by the marketing staff in each department. For example, the Children’s Festival, Arden Theatre, COSA Transit, Servus Place to name just a few. Each of these would have specific advertising budgets to market their services and drive revenue.
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Report Date: November 21, 2019
Author(s): Sharon Chapman
Department: Strategic Services & Information Technology
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble