qathet Regional District’s (qRD) finance committee is recommending getting an early start on the 2023 to 2027 financial planning process.
At a July 13 meeting, manager of financial services Linda Greenan said the plan is for having the fourth draft of the financial plan in time for adoption at the February 2023 regional board meeting. The regional district has until March 31 to submit its five-year financial plan to the province.
“The plan I am proposing is that the board would adopt the budget in February 2023, similar to what we did in 2022,” said Greenan.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said she was very rushed last year in the budget planning process.
“I wanted more time to engage community members in discussions prior to the budget being adopted; I found it to be a very rushed process,” said McCormick. “My question is, what happens if we have a new board [after the October municipal election], who may or may not have been sworn in? We’re likely going to have new city directors and we are going to have a new director for Electoral Area A. If one of the remaining four of us chooses not to run or is booted out of office, you’re going to have a majority of the board that is brand new.”
McCormick said it is not fair, until the new members have gone through some type of orientation. She said it is going to be difficult for them to get a handle on what they are doing, and to be in a position where they can think constructively about the budget.
“It’s just too soon with the new board coming into office,” said McCormick. “It should go back to a pre-2021 process of adopting the budget in March, as per our requirement provincially. What would the chief administrative office recommend with a whole new board of directors and a budget?”
qRD manager of administrative services Michelle Jones said if the board is not ready to adopt the budget in February, there is still some grace room to consider the budget in March and extend the process.
McCormick said the board has to consider, when November comes around, if the majority could be part of a new regional board.
“Is it really fair to throw them into a budget process in their first few weeks of office?” asked McCormick. “We should delay by a month, even if it’s just for this year, to allow the new board to get a feel for things, before having to make a decision as major as the budget. I’d like to see it postponed.”
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said starting the budget process earlier is something the regional board started doing this term. He said there may be new board members after the election, but that’s part of the challenge of governance and elections.
“Starting the budget process earlier doesn’t mean we have to adopt the budget earlier,” said Gisborne. “The budget must be submitted by the end of March. New directors can be thrown right into the budget process. I’m totally fine with the earlier start time.
“You get those new board members and they start to get into the process, but there still is that deadline and they have time from when they get sworn in to the end of March to sort out what’s going on with the budget.”
Learning curve
City director and finance committee chair George Doubt said he thinks the proposed schedule is a good one.
“It starts with draft one in November and it gives the process, not just for the board, but it gives four opportunities for public input in the plan as it exists,” said Doubt. “There can be additional finance committee meetings or board meetings as we go along the way to add to that. There is room to extend it if the time has to be extended.
“It’s important to immerse new directors into the finances of the regional district as soon as possible, because if they haven’t thought about it before the election, they will certainly think about it at their first meeting in November, that everything the regional district does is somehow connected to the budget. It will be a steep learning curve and I know it was a steep learning curve for me when I came onboard. That’s the game you’re getting into when you run as a regional district representative.”
In terms of public input into the budget, Greenan said the plan will be to advertise the budget meetings and the public is welcome to come to the meetings and provide input. Questions can also be asked of the qRD finance department.
Doubt said he hopes people read the advertisements.
“It certainly is helpful when a resident or taxpayers show up to these meetings and let their opinions be known about what they would like to see,” said Doubt. “We generally hear more from people after we complete the process than we do in working up to it and I’d really like to see more people involved through the whole process.”
The finance committee recommended the board approve the 2023 to 2027 planning process as proposed.
