County staff seek review process to modernize, enact cost-savings plan
Administrator | Nov 26, 2019 | Comments 3
Emily Cowan, Grants and Special Projects Co-ordinator
Council will be asked for support, at Tuesday night’s meeting, for a third-party Municipal Modernization Program review to gain further funding to streamline services and enact cost-savings.
Municipalities that received the province’s modernization payments last March are now able to apply for funding for projects that can include line-by-line reviews of the budget; a review of service delivery and modernization opportunities, or a review of administrative processes to reduce costs.
Municipal staff recommend the review of service delivery and modernization opportunities by a third-party, at an approximate price of $60-$80,000. This is fully funded by the province.
The province is making up to $125 million available through 2022-2023 to help 405 small and rural municipalities. There are several intake periods available.
“A service delivery review undertaken by an independent third party will result in a report outlining recommendations for improvement. Intake 2, expected in spring/summer 2020 will provide funding to implement those recommendations,” said Emily Cowan, Grants and Special Projects Co-ordinator, in her report.
“The municipality has not undertaken a service delivery review in the recent past, an up-to-date review is necessary to be eligible for subsequent Municipal Modernization Program Intake funding opportunities,”
The Municipal Modernization program is one the County’s new Chief Administrative Officer knows well, as Marcia Wallace was the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Earlier this month Wallace, in a letter from her office at the ministry, outlined the program guidelines and intake periods.
She begins in the CAO position on Dec. 16.
Filed Under: Local News
To further the topic, I did a little research, if the information I see on the sunshine list most of the top managers have received wages increases in some cases of over 6%, every years for the last 4 to 5 years. that is around 25%. Cost savings maybe should start here.
Fully funded by Ontario taxpayers you mean. Bring in the consultants … again!!
Cost savings? When will the county have a firm come in to see if or not the county is over staffed. Cao down to a labourer. I would think this would be a first step in cost cutting, see where the fat is, if any. I would think with all the different job titles you see in the local papers each week that maybe upper management may be a little top heavy. Also the 2:30 pm caravan indicates this. This caravan is the stream of county pickups traveling the back roads of the county most days after 2:30 putting in time.