TAMRMS#: B06
6.4
REQUEST FOR DECISION
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10 Year Utility RMR Capital Plan
Presented by: Deborah Johnson, Financial Controller, Finance & Strategic Services
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RECOMMENDED MOTION(S)
recommendation
1. That Council members submit any motions for proposed amendments to the 2026-2035 Utility RMR Capital Plan to Administration by May 23, 2025.
2. That Administration prepare backgrounders for motions for proposed changes to the 10 Year Utility RMR Capital Plan for presentation to Council at the June 3, 2025 meeting for consideration of approval.
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SUMMARY
To provide Committee members with a preliminary view of the 10 Year Utility RMR Capital plan for future consideration of approval for the 2026 projects.
ALIGNMENT TO COUNCIL DIRECTION OR MANDATORY STATUTORY PROVISION
Council Policy C-FS-05 Budget and Taxation Guiding Principles
Service Standards/Expectations
3-Municipal and Utility capital budgets shall be prepared and approved by Council for a rolling ten (10) year period and Administration shall be given approval to execute on year 1 of the plan.
5-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, provided as Schedule 1.
7-The City is committed to the preservation and long-term viability of its current infrastructure and as such commits available capital dollars towards the repair, maintenance and replacement of existing assets prior to consideration of new capital growth projects and assets.
19e- Council shall review and provide final approval of the RMR Capital Budget approximately six months prior to the next fiscal year.
19f- This approval shall grant Administration the authority to issue binding procurement documents such as Request for Proposals, Invitations to Tender and purchase orders and to award contracts at any time after final approval is received from Council.
Any contracts awarded will ensure that the goods and/or services will not be received until after January 1 of the following year when the budget dollars become available.
Complete project charters supporting the current year’s RMR capital plan will be provided to Council as part of the review process.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The 10 Year Capital Plan is a long-term planning document that provides key strategic inputs for the upcoming budget year, a framework for the three-year budget plan, and a future outlook of long-range capital requirements. The plan identifies the capital projects and budget requirements (as compiled within a Capital Project Charter) to maintain the City’s existing utility infrastructure while minimizing future risk. In addition, the Utility Capital Plan will form the basis for calculation of the overall utility rates for the subsequent year.
The 10 Year Capital Plan is developed by compiling information from several different sources, including lifecycle infrastructure studies, diverse master plans, and Council’s current priorities and goals. Several corporate assumptions have been considered to ensure that projects relating to repair, maintain, and replace (RMR) represent an accurate view of what requirements to address the City’s utility infrastructure:
• Assessment of impact or risk to community relating to public health, safety, legal obligations, or regulatory requirements;
• Annual detailed review of lifecycle and replacement plans;
• Staff resources and capacity during project implementation; and
• The effect of potential operational impacts and long-term requirements.
In addition, the project budget is reviewed and updated to reflect various cost drivers and adjustments due to:
• Cost inflation and US dollar exchange rate;
• Refined cost estimates;
• New information contained in updated Engineers’ reports and further review of conditional assessment data; and
• Assessing department requirements that may result in additions to the Capital Plan.
In considering the listed criteria, various planning studies, and cost updates, Administration is better prepared to recommend a 10 Year Capital Plan that accurately reflects the requirements to repair, maintain, and replace exiting City infrastructure as outlined in the attachment entitled “10 Year Utility RMR Capital Plan.”
10 Year (2026-2035) Utility RMR Capital Plan
As the City’s 10 Year Capital Plan has a direct impact on the Supplementary Capital Fee portion of the Utility rates, comparing the previous 10 Year Capital Plan to this year’s proposed 10 Year Capital Plan is imperative to understand the effects and trends of the fee. To ensure that a robust capital budget is brought forward, several factors were reviewed in preparation of the 10 Year Utility RMR Capital Plan.
Comparing the complete 10 Year Capital Plan from prior year:
• As the 2025 $15.1 million is removed and the subsequent year 2035 of $13.4 million is added to the 10 Year plan, the results are an overall decrease variance of $1.7 million. This variance was mainly due to significant work in 2025 on Lift Stations.
• The previous year’s 10 Year (2025-2034) Utility RMR Capital Plan included a 2026 forecast of $18.0 million. The proposed 2026 budget in the 2026-2035 Utility RMR Capital Plan is $18.4 million, resulting in an increase of $0.4 million. Details of the 2026 variance are outlined in the attachment titled “Utility RMR Capital Variance”.
• In comparing the remainder years of 2027-2034 in the 10 Year Capital Plan, there is an anticipated increase of $4.0 million resulting from:
- Cost inflation, minor scope changes and more concise cost estimates
- Aging water infrastructure and expanded scope for water pipe RMR
- Aging sewer infrastructure (including lift stations)
- Stormwater management facility desludging (additional scope)
- Stormwater CCTV Inspections (additional scope).
The total 10 year variance as compared to the previous year’s plan is an overall increase of $2,811 thousand as detailed below:
Previously Approved 2025-34 Capital Plan (in thousands) $153,667
Less 2025 Approved Capital Budget (15,069)
Add 2035 Proposed year 13,447
Add 2026 Proposed Variances 398
Add 2027-2034 Proposed Variances 4,034 2,811
Proposed 2026-2035 RMR Utility Capital Plan $156,477
2026 Capital Budget & Funding
For 2026, the capital budget includes 11 charters $18,449,100.
In accordance with C-FS-14 Utility Fiscal Policy, each type of required infrastructure is funded by its respective Utility Reserve.
The 2026 Utility RMR Capital Projects recommended funding commitments are as follows:
Funding Source Total (in thousands)
Water Reserve $4,701
Wastewater Reserve 5,170
Storm Reserve 7,560
Solid Waste Reserve 33
Grants 987
Total 18,449
The Capital Project Charters regarding the above are outlined in the attachment titles “2026 Utility RMR Capital Charters”.
STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS OR ENGAGEMENT
N/A
IMPACTS OF RECOMMENDATION(S)
Financial:
The City has two main sources of funding available to be used towards Capital Utility Infrastructure: Utility revenue and grants. The Utility revenue is collected from both consumption usage and flat fees with rates approved by Council, and is calculated to cover both operating costs and capital costs.
Capital costs to support provision of Utility services comprise approximately 29% of the total costs. The capital costs required to be financed bears significant impacts to the Utility rate and its bylaws to be approved in December 2025.
Compliance & Legal:
None at this time.
Program or Service:
If the recommendation for approval to Council is passed, this would authorize Administration to begin the preparatory work relating to site planning, establishing commitments, RFP process, and submission of grant applications. This would be accomplished with the understanding that no spending is to occur until the 2026 Budget is approved, as per Council Policy C-FS-05 Budget and Taxation Guiding Principles.
The RMR 10 Year Capital Plan identifies the requirements to maintain the City’s existing Utility infrastructure. If approval is not made, the future risk of Utility programs/services provided to residents could be significantly impacted.
Organizational:
None at this time.
Risks
None at this time.
ALIGNMENT TO PRIORITIES IN COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Initiative aligned with Strategic Plan:
None at this time
ALIGNMENT TO LEVELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
Service Name: Corporate Budgeting
Description: Stewardship of development of annual operating and capital budgets for Municipal and Utility operations.
Subservice: Utility Capital Budget Development
• Budget is prepared and approved by Council for a rolling ten (10) year period with the approval to execute one year of the plan.
• The annual approval of the capital budgets is complete by December 31 of each year.
IMPACTS OF ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
N/A
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Report Date: May 13, 2025
Author(s): Deborah Johnson
Department: Financial & Strategic Services
Department Director: Anne Victoor
Managing Director: Diane McMordie
Chief Administrative Officer: William Fletcher