Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Thoughts on Premier Stelmach

Earlier yesterday I tweeted remarks from the Premier's speech at the Chamber Luncheon at Festival Place. I have had several residents ask me for more of my personal thoughts.
 
I believe that Ed Stelmach knew many of the audience and was relaxed and gentle humoured. This resulted in him cutting through the rhetoric as he updated Sherwood Park business owners and residents on initiatives that he believes are important to move Alberta forward.
 
The stress he put on health care identified his strong support of improving the public health system and making it sustainable by training workers and meeting workforce requirements. He discussed the needs for expanding power distribution in Alberta and acknowledged residents would have an opportunity to present views on preferred technology and alignments - even mentioning the possibility of burying power lines.

I think he showed confidence in the robust businesses of the Capital region particularly Strathcona County. Premier Ed said that expanding our oil and gas interests by building upgrading capacity was his governments way of building Alberta for future generations. His promotion of  upgrading bitumen here in Alberta won him solid applause at the packed Sherwood Park & Area Chamber Luncheon.
 
Premier Ed  referred to a Dec. 9, 2010 press release of an additional $69.1 million allocated for construction of the new Strathcona Hospital saying that Phase 2 of that project will include inpatient beds and operating rooms. Construction is currently underway on Phase 1 of the hospital, which will include 24/7 Emergency services.  In a response to a question about the Strathcona Community Hospital he said he keeps his commitments and phase 2 would follow right after phase 1 is built.

My hope is that MLA Iris Evans and Dave Quest have finally been heard amidst the myriad of issues in the caucas and that Strathcona County residents can now focus on just what the new medical facility will specialize in. Looking at other Alberta hospitals, we know that the most recent ones specialize in specific areas. Councillor Fenske has wondered out loud about an arthritis centre of excellence. Given the '" demographic time bomb" ( 2,000 people turned 65 today) that our Premier referred to today, I wonder whether Strathcona County residents and their medical professionals should be advocating for a Geriatric Centre of Excellence?
 
What are your comments? Please e-mail me
 
If you are not already on my Residents E-News Bulletin List - e-mail me your request right away.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Budget Update

Council has been in discussion and debate for weeks on the budget. On Dec. 14, 2010,  Council is expected to approve the 2011 -2013 Business Plan, the 2011 operating budgets for municipal, utility and library operations and the 2011 capital budgets for municipal, utility and library operations.

Administration originally proposed a municipal tax increase of 4.86%. After much debate we were presented with a proposal of 3.45%. Further discussion will occur on Tuesday.

In addition, Council approved a motion to move 4 million dollars to the Open Space Recreation Facilities Plan in order to encourage Administration to build capacity and provide more recreational opportunities for Strathcona County residents.

I would also like to thank my fellow Councillors for unanimously supporting three of my initiatives that will benefit both urban and rural residents:

Council amended the proposed 2011 budget by adding $3000 in the RCMP operating budget to accommodate criminal record checks for Strathcona County resident volunteers who assist vulnerable citizens in Strathcona County through various projects and programs. This was in response that I have heard regarding volunteers waiting months to get necessary criminal checks done and will mean that volunteers will not have to pay additional fees to have a rapid verification made in order that they can start their work with children and seniors in a reasonable time frame.

I was concerned over the facility rental fees that I saw for both rural and urban room rates for meetings and events. Council discussed this concern with the result that Administration was directed to bring recommendations to Council for not for profit user fees of all Strathcona County facilities for meetings and events.

Finally, I have been unhappy that our residents do not have 'front of class' positioning in the surface parking at our new Community Centre. After much discussion, Council directed that Administration to make twenty parking stalls available close to the Library for free public parking; with a report to come to Council by the end of April 2011 on a parking management plan.


Please feel welcome to attend Council sessions.
Tuesday's schedule is:

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010
Council - 3 p.m.
Council Open House - 5:30 p.m.
Public Hearings - 5 or 7 p.m.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Your Tax Dollar


I am often asked by residents what they get for their dollar and why taxes just keep going up.

Municipalities supply a balanced ‘basket’ of goods and services to their residents. These services include:
  •  utility services (water, wastewater, solid waste)
  • protective services (fire, ambulance, police)
  • transportation services (roads, transit)
  • recreation, parks and culture programs
  • planning services
  • community social programs. 

It is the diversity and quality of these services that make Strathcona County the community of choice for those of us who live here.

Residents should expect Strathcona County Council and administration to monitor their expenditures on an ongoing basis to achieve a balance between continuing to plan for the future, exercising fiscal prudence in uncertain economic times and delivering value for the municipal property tax dollar.

In 2010, your municipal tax dollar was distributed approximately as follows:
Transportation (roads) = 32 cents
Recreation, parks & culture = 23 cents
Fire, ambulance, police & bylaw =  22 cents
Public transit = 13 cents
Planning services = 04 cents
Agriculture = 03 cents
Family & community services = 02 cents
Economic development & tourism = 01 cents

The short answer to ‘why taxes continue to increase’ is that the cost of goods and inflation continues to increase. In addition, our community growth is about 2% and our own expectations drive the need for more and better services and programs. We want more community policing, more ice time, a bike park, artificial turf…. the list is endless. We all have a role to play in beating down any tax increases. I believe that as residents we need to think before we demand bigger, better, newer infrastructure. Let’s think before demanding more. I believe that Council can mitigate increasing taxes – with your help.

So – how do we minimize some of those costs?

Where Council needs to look for the greater savings, in my opinion, is in the list of capital projects that are requested year after year. This County has about 150 ‘open projects’ – some of which reach back 10 years. Over 220 million dollars allocated to these projects, some of which are multi-year, are not expended. So – I have to ask the question: Why not have a catch up year? Why create new positions tied to new capital projects? Why not utilize existing resources to complete important projects that previous Councils promised our residents. These open projects include major arterial overlays, traffic signal improvements, traffic calming and intersection improvements… the list goes on and on… from road and building infrastructure to equipment replacement… I say: “it’s time to get’er done”.

So in this year’s budget talks what can you expect?

Administration is recommending a 4.86% tax increase, across the board utility increases and an increase of about 50 staff. Some of these positions are related to the requested 50 million dollars in capital requirements.

So again I ask – why take on more projects than you can handle? Let’s focus on cleaning up the projects of the past ten years and then turn our efforts and resources to future needs. 

While I am pleased with our municipality’s move to cross department functional reviews, I still believe a corporate efficiency review will give us a more comprehensive picture of our current efficiency level and our potential capacity to improve in giving the taxpayer more for their tax dollar.

Also on my list of outcomes that I am driving toward is a thorough review of our customer service – both focus and culture (Oct. 26, 2010 blog).  Our customer is the taxpayer and you deserve the best service we can offer.

In 2010, administration is forecasting a potential year-end operating surplus in the area of 10 million dollars. Once again this year I will propose that the year end surplus be allocated to fund a very few necessary one time only 2011 capital projects – in an attempt to decrease the 2010 tax rate.

Join us in Council to find out more about where your tax dollar is going. For more details on times

I appreciate your comments. Please continue to send me your concerns.

Roxanne Carr is Councillor for Ward 2 and can be reached at 780-464-8002 or carr@strathcona.ab.ca.