2018-2022 Financial Plan

FINANCIAL PLAN OVERVIEW

The sale of the first phase of town centre lands was completed in June, resulting in proceeds of $1.58 million. As per Council direction, the monies from the sale of these lands are being directed toward the capital program and in particular, the development of artificial turf fields. Expenses: Overall, expenses are expected to come in within budget as a combined result of continued cost containment and timing variations in the completion of various studies and projects. The following highlights some significant cost centres: The RCMP contract cost will likely come in under Financial Plan targets. In line with Council practice, a portion of the savings will be transferred to the Police Services Reserve. The contract includes costs associated with Police Services including RCMP, Community Police Officers, centralized dispatch services and regional initiatives such as an Integrated Homicide Team, an Emergency Response Team, Forensic Identification, a Dog Unit and a Traffic Reconstruction Unit. Fire Department costs are expected to be within the annual budget envelope as a result of careful cost containment. With the dissolution of the Joint Leisure Services Agreement with Pitt Meadows in October of 2016, this is the first full year of a Maple Ridge only service delivery model. As at the end of August indications are that Parks, Recreation & Culture costs will be within Financial Plan targets for the year.

General government costs are expected to be under budget at the end of the year. Much of this relates to the timing of various studies and projects, as well as payments related to the Town Centre Investment Incentive Program. These savings will be transferred to reserves at the end of the year so that the funds are available when required. These savings do not flow to the bottom line. Borrowing for Fire Hall No. 4 will not be entered into this year resulting in savings on principal & interest of $800,000. Funding for this comes from the Fire Department Capital Acquisition Reserve and the monies will remain in the reserve until needed. Costs for snow removal exceed Financial Plan targets as a result of higher than normal volume of snow received in the first quarter of 2017. Forecasters are already warning that we may see another year of significant snow accumulations, if forecasts are correct, costs will continue to increase. The Snow Removal Reserve is available to help offset higher than normal costs. The balance in the Snow Removal Reserve is $473,000. Any unspent portion of budgets in capital projects funded through General Revenue that are still in progress at the end of the year will be transferred to reserves at year-end as work on the related projects will continue in 2018. The above summary is based on results to the end of August and points to a General Revenue surplus for 2017.

Property Tax Increases Council’s 2018–2022 Budget Guidelines

With that brief introduction, we will now turn our minds to the 2018—2022 Budget Guidelines. These guidelines serve as direction to staff for developing the Financial Plan. The Audit & Finance Committee reviewed and endorsed the 2018—2022 Business & Financial Planning Guidelines at the May 29, 2017 meeting and recommended that they be forwarded to Council for approval. Following that meeting Council approved a number of Parks, Recreation & Culture projects with an estimated cost of $55.5 million. The recommended funding model for these projects was endorsed by the Audit & Finance Committee on July 18, 2017 and the tax implications of that decision have now been incorporated into the 2018—2022 Business & Financial Planning Guidelines. Final approval of these projects is subject to an elector approval process as discussed later in the report.

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