Recommendations
It is incumbent on Council to develop a plan to completely resolve the disparities, both those outlined in this report and those highlighted by MNP but discarded by city staff. This document provides Council with a blueprint to achieve this goal by documenting the areas that need to be addressed and providing a verifiable measure of the disparities. An immediate short term goal should be to match Cobourg’s Expenses, Taxes and Staffing-Levels. This can be achieved within a five year period if the recommendations in the SOLUTIONS section are implemented.
A summary of these are listed here.
Increase Other Revenues by:
a. Creating a Ancillary Business Department
b. Develop Profit Centers
c. Engage Staff and Roll Out a Suggestions Award Program
Share the Cost with Others by:
a. Establish Cost Sharing Agreements for the Bayshore and Rec Center
b. Donate the Art Gallery Collection to Grey County and lease the building to a business
c. Expand Administrative Shared Services with other Ontario Municipalities
Reduce – Tighten the Support Services Group by:
a. Examine the Organization for Redundant Services – e.g. IT Manager Police Services
b. Investigate Outsourcing Selective Support Services
c. Right Size the Workforce – delete 9 management positions and 15 staff positions
Re-Organize, Re-Align and Re-Think by:
a. Realign the Organizational Structure to Eliminate Inefficiencies
b. Introduce Zero-Based Budgeting at City Hall
c. RE-Think the Size of Economic Development Spend
d. Examine the Council-Staff Relationship to foster change
e. Eliminate the Use of Staff Time to Produce Elaborate Sales & Marketing Pitches
The facts are that Owen Sound’s taxes, expenses and workforce are significantly greater than similar municipalities delivering similar services. Council will need to remain focused and resolute when addressing this problem. As discussed, the goals of the Administration do not always align with the goals and objectives of Owen Sound residents or those of most members of council.
Members of council will hear well thought out arguments as to why every single manager and every single employee is essential to operations and that if Council forces staff reductions the quantity and quality of services will suffer. When you hear this, apply your critical thinking skills and examine the facts. Then ask yourself, if Cobourg’s staff can deliver similar services, with 25 fewer staff, including 9 fewer managers, why is our city manager not able to provide Owen Sound residents with the same level of operational efficiency?
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The time has come for Council to value the needs of residents in the poorest municipality in Southern Ontario over the desire of city staff to maintain their numbers in spite of the overwhelming evidence that city hall is grossly overstaffed in comparison with similar municipalities. |
The facts are that Owen Sound’s taxes, expenses and workforce are significantly greater than similar municipalities delivering similar services. Council will need to remain focused and resolute when addressing this problem. As discussed, the goals of the Administration do not always align with the goals of Owen Sound residents or those of most members of city council.
Members of council will hear well thought out arguments as to why every single manager and every single employee is essential to operations and that if Council forces staff reductions the quantity and quality of services will suffer. When you hear this, apply your critical thinking skills and examine the facts. Then ask yourself, if Cobourg’s staff can deliver similar services, with 25 fewer staff, including 9 fewer managers, why is our city manager not able to provide Owen Sound residents with the same level of operational efficiency? Council must be firm on challenging staff to create efficiencies and reject staff requests for budget increases and new positions unless appropriate offsets are offered. Failure to do will result in the disparities growing to a level that forces taxpayers to relocate to adjacent municipalities.