Sustainability

 

Municipalities in Alberta and across Canada are providing a level of service to their residents never seen before. In addition to core services – garbage collection, water and sewer, planning and development, and roads – other services like recreation and leisure, arts and culture, special events, snow removal, and landscaping have become standard offerings in towns and cities. This level of service has become unsustainable in the eyes of many. 

Adding to rising costs, provincial governments continue to "download" the responsibility to pay for additional items like policing and infrastructure. Compounding this problem is the provincial government's insistence that it will reduce its funding. This will necessitate difficult decisions on the part of towns and cities regarding their level of services as most would agree that taxes can not continue to rise at a rate required to sustain service levels. 

Three options are available: 

The Municipal Services Group can assist municipalities in assessing their current state, securing alternative revenue sources, and sharing services. 

ASSET
MANAGEMENT

Aging infrastructure – roads, bridges, buildings, water and sewer lines, recreation facilities, equipment, and natural assets – is a challenge all municipalities face. Municipal councils and administrations across Canada strive to deliver services their residents need and want at a level they can afford. Asset Management Strategies are a key piece to long-term capital planning, help ensure that decisions are informed, and an appropriate amount of investment in infrastructure takes place.

Understanding thoroughly what infrastructure is in place, where it is, its condition, and the cost of replacement are key pieces to making informed investments in a municipality’s infrastructure. 

The Municipal Services Group can assist with developing your municipality’s Asset Management Strategy, including the Plan and the Policy that will focus on improving your municipality’s asset management practices.

COLLABORATIVE FRAMEWORKS

Collaborative Frameworks are agreements between agencies such as municipalities, school divisions, non-profit groups, and/or the private sector to ensure that scarce resources are shared and optimized to the greatest extent possible. 

Collaboration can take many forms including:

Some of the specific projects The Municipal Services Group has worked on include Joint Use and Planning Agreements (JUPA's), Recreation Master Plans, and yes, even the ultimate collaborative project – Amalgamation! 

REVENUE GENERATION OPPORTUNITIES

Fees and Charges Reviews

User fees are a commonly accepted means of generating revenue for a municipality. Typically these fees offset the tax subsidy applied by municipalities in their efforts to provide programs and services to its residents.  

An effective policy and fee-setting framework will maximize the use of public money, withstand public scrutiny, focus on Council priorities, and effectively allow municipalities to recover a reasonable level of the costs associated with delivering programs and services.

Utility Rate Reviews

Water, Sewer, and Stormwater utilities are core services provided by municipalities. However, many towns and cities set their utility rates in an ad hoc manner. Understanding the full cost of a utility is a key piece to setting the rate. The Municipal Services Group can assist your municipality with a Cost of Service Study (CSS) that analyses the costs of providing service to each customer class (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial) thereby determining the appropriate rate for consumers.

Off-Site Levy (OSL) Bylaw Reviews

Most municipalities cannot afford to pay 100% of the costs of new municipal infrastructure.

Off-site levies are used to recover the costs a municipality will incur for new or expanded municipal infrastructure or facilities. The Municipal Services Group can assist in updating your OSL bylaw.

Federal, Provincial, and Private Grants

Government grants are a viable and significant source of revenue for municipalities. The challenge for many administrations is the lack of time to identify and apply for these critical funding sources. The Municipal Services Group is familiar with the grant options available to your municipality. 

Naming Rights, Sponsorship, and Advertising Programs 

Sponsor support is a collaborative arrangement between a municipality and external individuals, groups, or organizations. Arrangements between government departments and agencies and the private sector have become commonplace. 

TMS Group can assist in developing strong policies and procedures that will allow you to leverage this emerging revenue stream for your municipality while maintaining the overriding principles of ethics, public scrutiny, and accountability.