Budget deliberations are underway, and it appears council is about to give local ratepayers another collective wedgie in the form of a double-digit combined municipal taxes/utilities rate hike.
That being said, it’s time to take a serious look at streamlining operations at the District of Squamish (DOS).
According to the Statement of Financial Information (SOFI), the district retains a general manager of corporate services, a manager of corporate services, a general manager of financial services, a manager of financial operations and a manager of financial planning. Eliminating two of those positions and restructuring the remaining roster will result in savings of at least $193,000.
The SOFI lists a general manager of community and business, a project manager, a manager of real estate and two community planners. One or even two of those positions could be purged, leading to a minimum $94,000 savings.
The district employs a manager of facilities, two operations supervisors, a director of operations, a director of recreation, a recreation maintenance supervisor and an assistant recreation maintenance supervisor. Axing one of those positions would free up a minimum of $75,500.
Our newly appointed chief administrative officer appears to be on message when it comes to downsizing. Linda Glenday recently announced the deputy CAO position, which she held before taking over the big chair, will not be immediately filled. In keeping with the organizational shake-up outlined here, that designation and the associated annual $144, 500 stipend should be permanently eliminated.
If we tally up all the above-mentioned cuts, the resulting savings will be in the vicinity of $500,000 annually.
The prevailing view at muni hall is that more administrators are required to deal with rapid residential and commercial expansion.
But according to a report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, spending is out of control in Canadian municipalities. A main driver is “employment growth at compensation levels well above private sector norms” and “far in excess of inflation and population growth.”
Cost-cutting at every level of the operation, including management, is essential in the highly competitive business arena.
The Jim Pattison Group, one of Canada’s foremost independent commercial operations, has more than 39,000 employees and annual sales of $8.4 billion. Nick Geer, a former senior executive with the firm, told Maclean’s magazine in the 20 years he was on staff, the number of administrators at the Vancouver head office grew from 22 people to 24. Continuous restructuring and barring the door to bureaucratic bloat are essential cornerstones of the Pattison business model.
That policy should become standard practice here in Squamish, where reducing administrative staff has traditionally been a non-starter during municipal budget deliberations.
