Lac Ste. Anne County Activity Report 2019 Spring Activity Report | Page 17

SPRING 2019 ActivityLSAC
Successes to Celebrate
LSAC.CA/COUNTY-NEWS
County Among Top 20
Alberta Municipalities
The Canadian Federation of
Independent Business (CFIB)
recently released its ninth edition
of the Alberta Municipal Spending
Watch Report which examines
182 municipalities in Alberta.
The Canadian Federation of
Independent Business (CFIB) report
examines 182 municipalities in Alberta,
with a focus on the province’s most
populated regions. The County
was among the Top 20 of Alberta’s
best performing municipalities (with
populations of 1,000 or larger).
The report shows that from 2006 to
2016, the vast majority of Alberta
municipalities grew operating spending
well above the sustainable benchmark
of inflation and population growth. Lac
Ste. Anne County was one of only
19 municipalities that have kept real
operating spending increases at or
below population growth. Excessively
high municipal operating spending
ultimately leads to a combination of
lower infrastructure spending and/
or increased taxation, both of which
dampen economic development and
job creation within the economy. In
its report, CFIB has made a number
of recommendations to municipal
governments seeking to curb spending:
Limit spending to inflation and
population growth.
Review core services.
Core services (snow removal, road
maintenance, etc.) must be identified
and reviewed to ensure effective
service delivery within a framework of
fiscal restraint.
Contracted services to the private
sector, where cost efficient.
Municipalities will be able to offer the
same quality of services to residents at a
lower cost to the taxpayer if private firms
are able to compete for contracts.
Implement a sustainable
wage policy for public sector wage,
compensation, and hiring.
Municipal governments should implement
compensation systems and wage
growth policies for employees that are
sustainable and align closely with those
of private sector workers. Additionally, a
cap on the number of full-time municipal
employees should be considered so that
real operating spending will be more in
line with population growth and inflation.
Put in place appropriate contingency
funds in case of natural disasters.
Special circumstances that require an
increase in spending for a particular year
should be funded by a reasonable level of
emergency or reserve funds. Emergency
flood and fire funds for affected regions
should be assessed regularly to ensure
that built-up funds will allow municipalities
to avoid drastic spikes in spending due
to natural disasters.
County Teams up with
Onoway on Ec Dev Initiative
The County and the Town of
Onoway are working together
on an exciting initiative designed
to support local enterprise and
enhance the region’s economic
development opportunities.
Thanks to input from local businesses
and community leaders, these municipal
partners have developed an economic
roadmap that will provide guidance and
direction as the economic development
strategy gains momentum in the
months and years to come. This guiding
document contains an overview of the
initiative, stakeholder survey results, and
recommendations on how to support
local businesses, showcase the region
as a tourism destination, and build a
stronger regional economy.
The website partnersinprogress.ca
has been created to communicate this
intermunicipal economic development
initiative to the public, and to deliver news
and resources as they become available.
About the Onoway and
Lac Ste. Anne County Partnership
The Onoway and County Partnership
was initiated in 2016 between the Town
of Onoway and Lac Ste. Anne County
to take advantage of working together
to enhance economic development
opportunities in the region.
In 2018, the two communities developed
a Steering Committee and began the
process of building a regional partnership
to support business development within
the region. The partnership understands
that this is a first step, and with direction
from the Steering Committee, the
partnership foresees adding other
municipal partners from within the Lac
Ste. Anne region at some point in the
future. This Steering Committee is a first
step in organizing a regional organization
and was intentionally designed as a small,
nimble committee to move forward on
a larger regional collaboration project.
This Steering Committee is a pilot project
to investigate the opportunities and
challenges of forming a new collaborative
entity and will entertain additional partners
when the time is right.
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