TAMRMS#: B06
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2021 Municipal & Utility Budgets
Presented by: Diane McMordie, Director, Finance & Assessment/CFO
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RECOMMENDED MOTIONS
recommendation
1. That the 2021 Consolidated Municipal and Utility Budget in the amount of $288,019,200 and the Net Tax Requirement of $111,975,200 as shown in the attachment titled “2021 Consolidated Budget” be approved
2. That the 10 Year Municipal Growth Capital Plan provided as an attachment to the December 21, 2020 agenda report titled “2021 Municipal & Utility Budgets” be approved
3. That the 10 Year Utility Growth Capital Plan provided as an attachment to the December 21, 2020 agenda report titled “2021 Municipal & Utility Budgets” be approved
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PURPOSE OF REPORT
This report presents the 2021 Municipal and Utility budgets, as recommended by Committee of the Whole, for Council’s review and approval.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Strategic Priority #1: Growth Policy Framework: Develop a robust policy framework to guide growth.
Strategic Priority #4: Infrastructure Investment: Identify and build needed capital assets.
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
Financial Planning
Stewardship of development of annual operating and capital budgets for Municipal and Utility operations.
The approved operating and capital budgets shall serve as the financial plan for the City and provide Administration with the direction and resources necessary to accomplish Council’s strategic direction and Council approved services and service levels in accordance with the Services and Service Levels Inventory
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
On June 24, 2019, Council passed the following motion (CB-19-012):
•That effective for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 budgets, the equivalent of a 1.50% property tax increase be included in the municipal tax requirement and specifically targeted to capital reserves to support the repair, maintenance and replacement of existing capital assets.
On July 6,2020 Council passed the following motions:
PM-21-001- That the 2021 Municipal Repair, Maintain, Replace (RMR) Capital Budget of 30 capital RMR projects be funded in the amount of $23,362,600.
PM-21-002 - That the 2021 Utility Repair, Maintain, Replace (RMR) Capital Budget of 11 capital RMR projects be funded in the amount of $19,127,000.
On September 28, 2020 Council passed the following motions:
PM-21-003-That the following 2021 growth project charters be approved subject to MSP and MCCAC grant approval:
a. ENG-054 (a) Intersection improvements - Boudreau Road at Bellerose Drive - $1,000,000
b. ENG-054 (b) Intersection improvements - Everitt Drive at Ebony Way - $805,000
c. ENV-002 Solar PV Program - $1,500,000
PM-21-004-That the following 2021 growth project charters be approved pending formal ICIP-COVID-19 Resiliency Stream funding transfer request:
a. RECR-049 Neighborhood Park Development $2,039,600 (Growth)
b. ENGS-068 -Active Transportation Plan $1,100,000 (Growth)
c. FIRE-027 Emergency Operations Center $972,800 (Growth)
PM-21-005-That project charter RECR-070 Fowler Athletic Park Refurbishment, be increased from $250,000 to $2,870,000 to allow for the entire project to be completed in 2021 to align with the requirements of the ICIP-COVID-19 resiliency stream grant criteria.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Each year, Council approves a budget to provide required resources to deliver its programs and services to the community and a capital budget to provide required resources to maintain existing infrastructure and to support future capital initiatives.
The 2021 Consolidated budget of $288,019,200 includes:
• 30 Municipal RMR Capital projects in the amount of $25,982,600 approved in 2020
• 11 Utility RMR Capital projects in the amount of $19,127,000 approved in 2020
• 17 Municipal Growth Capital projects in the amount of $35,782,700 as detailed in the attachment titled “10 Year Municipal Capital Plan”
• 1 Utility Growth project in the amount of $500,000 as detailed in the attachment titled “10 Year Utility Capital Plan”
• Utility operating budget in the amount of $42,239,800
• Municipal operating budget in the amount of $164,387,100
• Included in the municipal operating budget is $777,600 in business cases as detailed in the attachment titled "2021 Business Case Summary"
This results in a municipal net tax requirement of $111,975,200 which equates to an average property tax increase of 0.7%.The Utility budget results in an average utility bill decrease of 0.03% and the hiring of two full time employees in 2022 to operate the approved capital growth vehicle.
Administration will report back to Council in Q2 2021 with any required budget adjustments due to new information or emerging issues prior to the finalization of the tax rate bylaw.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
Two World Café Discussions with random sampling of residents was held, stakeholder engagement sessions and an online budget tool gathered input from residents for Council’s consideration as they deliberated the proposed business plan and budget.
IMPLICATIONS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
Approval of the 2021 Consolidated Operating Budget will result in an overall increase of approximately 0.7% in municipal property taxes and a 0.03% decrease in the average residential utility bill.
Approval of the 2021 Consolidated Capital Budget will result in $81.4 million of planned projects in 2021 of which $17.2 million is to be secured through debt financing.
Legal / Risk:
The Municipal Government Act provides that Council must adopt a utility operating and capital budget for each calendar year (ss.242 and 245).
Program or Service:
None at this time.
Organizational:
None at this time.
ALTERNATIVES AND IMPLICATIONS CONSIDERED
N/A
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Report Date: December 21, 2020
Author: Anne Victoor
Department: Finance & Assessment
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble