2011 Budget
Published August 6, 2010
Preparation of the annual budget for the County is always untidy during an election year. In addition to the usual rhetoric around election time is added the inconvenience of two different councils dealing with the same budget. The budget process begins in the spring of the year; by the time the end product is ready to be approved at year-end, a new and possibly quite different Council has been sworn in; leading to the potential of significant last-minute changes proceeding from differences in philosophy. The time required to prepare an accurate budget together with the election and the fiscal year end, both dates defined by statute, make it impossible to do anything about this anomaly. Therefore, in the interests of efficiency, we need to recall that budgeting resolves to a simple question:
This is what we want (services); how much do we have to pay (taxes and fees)?
We rarely like the answer, so we then turn the question around:
This is what we are willing to pay; what can we get?
The budget process bounces back and forth between these two until we narrow the answer down to a result that nobody loves but most can live with. Where this relatively straightforward process breaks down is when this question, in either of its forms, is replaced by:
Here is what we want AND this is what we are willing to pay.
This implies that the taxes and services are somehow independent of one another. The inability to understand the “interdependence of what-you-get” versus “what-you-pay for” wastes time and effort, as we seek a pot of gold to close the gap. Reserves, borrowing limits, provincial grants and developer levies exist, but they are not simply loose change lying around for us to dip into. Each of these funds has a definite purpose with specific limitations as to how it may be spent. Meanwhile, the debate rages on within Council and elsewhere, always searching for the magical solution that will allow us to have everything we desire without paying for it. Here is one of the reasons that the budget takes nearly a full year to prepare. At the end of that year, the budget will be what it will be – reality always wins in the end. Goods and services cost what they cost, no matter what fiery promises are made. All that will result from engaging in this tedious fantasy is the hangover of disappointed expectations. What we need now and in the future is some frank discussion as to whether we are prepared to pay for our current levels of service or whether we need to adjust those expectations.
Alan Dunn, Councillor Ward 6
780-464-8206
dunn@strathcona.ab.ca
Last updated: Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Page ID: 6466