FCM Thoughts

Hi Everyone:

 

I have been spending the last few days at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Vancouver. It has been very busy with sessions starting at 7:30 or so and finishing at 8:00 with the hospitality suites after.

A FCM Session May 31, 2013

Here are some highlights for me:

·         “cities are living labs”

·         Cities are alive and ever changing with opportunities for “do overs.” However, it should be noted that the “do overs” are over years and generations and not days, weeks, and months.

·         There is no substitute for good design

·         The example here is fascinating: Olympic Park had to be raised more than a meter for design and functional purposes. The result was a more esthetically pleasing square with intentional water run off to revitalize a wet land area. They believe the effect has been the return of whales into the harbor due to increased bio diversity leading to an environment suitable for the whale

·         “Sustainable communities: do you want a sustainable marriage?” Great pointed question. For me I have been putting forward the idea of thriving and dynamic. Sustainable is just getting by, which business only wants to be ongoing or viable? Let’s check our attitudes to see if we want “Sustainable” lives or “Thriving” lives? In the same vein: so we want a “sustainable Kindersley” or a “dynamic/thriving Kindersley?”

·         Municipalities have a fiscal crisis.

·         Kindersley has a $40 million infrastructure deficit over 20 years: how do we catch up? Council is looking at that as we develop our strategic plan.

·         We get a significant amount of our revenue from property taxes. The Town is trying to get more cost recovery from facilities and services but generally we get less than 40% of our costs. Did you know that in the US and Europe municipalities receive as little as 20% of their revenue from property taxes?

·         The Federal and Provincial governments have downloaded programs. One item we are currently wrestling with is a “Special Constable” to enhance our bylaw enforcement plus items like speeding. Yes the RCMP are short staffed and cover a large area.

·         Did you know revenue growth, or the tax load, has increased significantly for the Federal and Provincial governments compared to the Town? Consider this:

Years	Jurisdiction	Revenue Growth
1999 – 2003	Federal	12%
1999 – 2003	Provincial	13%
1999 – 2003	Municipal	8%

·         As a rule of thumb: municipalities are responsible for ~67% of infrastructure with 8% of the tax resources

·         In 1993 Federal/Provincial transfers accounted for $0.25 of every dollar of Town revenue; today it is $0.16 a decrease of 37%.

FCM is working on these issues and so are we at Council. We are trying rationalize our approach so the Town is working and spending smarter.