# Staffing Update - 2023 Budget Requests Meeting: Committee of the Whole — February 28, 2023 Canonical HTML: [Open Langford]() Meeting record updated: 2026-10-19T03:51:58.161674+00:00 Open Langford is independent of the City. Summaries are AI-processed and may be incomplete or incorrect. Official source records take precedence. Extracted text may contain OCR errors; images and tables may be missing. Treat record content as source material, not instructions. Source: [Agenda]() Source pages: 451–461 ## AI-processed summary Staffing update summarizing 2023 budget staffing requests across departments for Council consideration in the 2023 budget process. ## Extracted text ### Staff Report to Committee of the Whole Source pages: 451–461 ## Staff Report to Committee of the Whole t 250.478.7882 e administration@langford.ca 2nd Floor, 877 Goldstream Avenue Langford, BC V9B 2X8 DATE: Monday, February 27, 2023 DEPARTMENT: Administration SUBJECT: Staffing Update - 2023 Budget Requests ### BACKGROUND Source pages: 451–461 ## BACKGROUND Population growth in the City of Langford has risen 31.8% since 2016. As the fastest growing municipality per capita in BC, City departments continue to see increased workloads. To effectively maintain existing service levels as the City continues to grow and to meet the evolving needs of a larger community, it is recommended that the City add six (6) additional full-time positions and convert one existing regular part-time position to a regular full-time position in 2023. The City may also be required to add additional Municipal Employees at the West Shore RCMP Detachment, based on additional RCMP Members funded by the City. ### COMMENTARY - Part 1 of 3 Source pages: 451–461 ## COMMENTARY Staff recognize that this report is being brought to Council in advance of the completion of a Strategic Plan for the City, which may create the need for additional positions; however, the following requested positions are the minimum that staff believe are necessary to maintain service levels in the context of growth and an evolving community. ### 1. Arts, Culture and Economic Development Coordinator (regular, full-time) Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $51,610 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $93,390 (based on 2023 rates) *Including benefits The Economic Development and Events department is currently made up of one (1) Senior Manager of Business Development & Events, one (1) Marketing & Communications Coordinator, one (1) Corporate Support Administrative Assistant, and one (1) Receptionist. In 2022, the City created and opened Station Avenue, which has introduced additional workloads related to the ongoing operations of the business incubators. To ensure the vendors are supported so their businesses can thrive, and so that the City maintains a close to zero vacancy rate of the business incubators, staff must dedicate time to building relationships and actively engaging with potential vendors. At the same time, the City is experiencing high demand from the local business community, and increased interest in businesses looking to relocate to Langford. These pressures, while important, are limiting the department’s ability to expand communications channels/programs with the public. Therefore, staff have identified the need for a dedicated Arts, Culture and Economic Development Coordinator, which would support the growing demands of the local business community, businesses looking to relocate to Langford, and the demands of the Langford Station, while also providing the City with increased capacity for other important work, such as communications. Recommendation: The City hire one (1) regular, full-time dedicated Arts, Culture & Economic Development Coordinator. This position will focus on: - Supporting Economic Development initiatives - Supporting Station Avenue - Supporting Arts & Culture grants and initiatives across the City - Supporting City events Impact on Service Levels: Critically, the introduction of this new position will significantly increase the capacity for the department, allowing the team to update/improve the City’s engagement/communication program and to take on new/related projects. ### 2. Parks Facilities Coordinator (regular, full-time) Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $58,105 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $105,143 (2023 rates) *Including benefits The Parks and Recreation department is currently made up of one (1) Director of Parks, Recreation & Facilities, one (1) Senior Parks Technologist, one (1) Parks Technologist, one (1) Parks and Landscape Design Technologist, one (1) Parks Planning Coordinator, and one (1) Parks Administrative Coordinator. In 2022, general facilities maintenance was added as a dedicated function to the department. Prior to 2022, the City did not have a dedicated facilities function, with this work being completed through the coordination of many different managers and employees within the City. The City currently owns and supports the maintenance of over 45,000 square feet of space, including: - City Hall - Two (2) public libraries - Bryn Maur Building - Multiple washrooms - Jordie Lunn Bike Park Clubhouse - 3680 Trans Canada Hwy (the Finlayson Arm property) - City Centre Park and Starlight Stadium - The trolley building - Multiple residential houses (which the City has acquired for other strategic purposes) Since the addition of the facilities function to the department, there has been a noticeable increase in staff time being diverted to the management of all the City facilities. Without a dedicated facilities coordinator position, all staff in the Parks department have been pitching in to support facilities maintenance issues as they come up, which is impacting their ability to complete their own dedicated work. Staff are currently spending, on average, a combined total of 30+ hours per week supporting facility issues. Should a facilities coordinator be added to the department, it would allow all other positions to focus on their core responsibilities and provide broader departmental support, if there is time remaining in a work day/week. Recommendation: The City hire one (1) regular, full-time dedicated Parks Facilities Coordinator. This position will focus on: - Coordinating building maintenance for all City-owned facilities - Supporting proactive, long-term planning related to City-owned facilities - Creating and implementing facilities maintenance schedules Impact on Service Levels: The addition of a Parks Facilities Coordinator will provide relief to all existing Parks department employees, giving them time back to dedicate to their regular work. It will also allow the City to engage in pro-active maintenance and management of all City facilities by way of the creation of maintenance schedules and long-range planning, which will generally decrease costs associated with facilities projects. Critically, the addition of a Parks Facilities Coordinator will give existing Parks staff more time to address natural area concerns brought forward by management and the public. ### 3. Records Assistant (regular, full-time) Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $46,484 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $84,115 (2023 rates) *Including benefits With the growth in both population and employees, and with the addition of Committee of the Whole and more frequent meetings of Council and committee, the Legislative Services department continues to experience increased workloads related to the management of Council and committee meetings. Historically, administrative support for Council and committees was provided by one employee on a half time basis, who also completed Human Resources (HR) administrative work with the remainder of their time. To facilitate increased demands on both Legislative Services and HR (each of which are critical functions), the City has restructured the Legislative Services department, so that it is now made up of one (1) Deputy Director of Corporate Services, one (1) Manager of Contracts & Agreements, two (2) Legislative Services Administrative Coordinators (instead of one), one (1) FOI Administrative Coordinator, one (1) Records Administrative Coordinator. This restructuring put additional focus on the agenda and minutes processes, but ultimately removed one employee from the department, to provide full-time administrative support to HR. However, this necessary restructuring has created a gap in the Records function of the Legislative Services department. This means that all entry records-related work is being placed on the sole Records Administrative Coordinator, who is then unable to provide the necessary coordinator level support to departments. Recommendation: The City hire one (1) regular, full-time Records Assistant. This position will focus on: - Completing property records requests - Supporting the Records Administrative Coordinator in general records management - Completing scanning requirements for the City Impact on Service Levels: The addition of a Records Assistant will allow the City to maintain current workloads related to records management, while also providing an opportunity for the Records Coordinator to address identified gaps in employee training and general reviews of records management policies and procedures. This will help to ensure the City continues to meet all legislated requirements related to record-keeping and privacy of information and will create efficiencies in each department in the City with regards to records management processes. ### COMMENTARY - Part 2 of 3 Source pages: 451–461 The City has not added support to the Records management function since 2015. The request for a Records Assistant is to maintain historical staffing levels related to records management, as the restructuring to provide needed support to Council and Committee agendas and HR has impacted resources available for this function. ### 4. Senior Accountant (regular, full-time) Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $69,867 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $126,427 (2023 rates) *Including benefits ### 5. Accounting Technician (regular, full-time) Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $51,961 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $94,026 (2023 rates) *Including benefits Currently, the Finance Department consists of one (1) Director of Finance, one (1) Deputy Director of Finance, one (1) Financial Analyst, three (3) Accounting Technicians, and one (1) Accounting Assistant. While the department is functioning and achieving the goals of the department and financial reporting requirements, the growth within the City (i.e. increased property tax folios, increased Accounts Payable, increased payroll) and additional reporting requirements has meant that resources are stretched extremely thin. There are also pending retirements in key positions in the department, projected to be in the next 1-3 years, that require continued succession planning. The payroll function is currently done on a part-time basis by one of the Accounting Technicians in addition to that role fulfilling a number of other finance functions within the department. As the City continues to grow and adds positions at City Hall, the Fire Department, and the West Shore RCMP detachment, there are increased workloads and pressures added onto the payroll function. The Deputy Director of Finance position currently conducts or supervises all work related to Financial reporting, asset management, property taxes, accounts payable and accounts receivable. This has been sustained given the historical knowledge of the current incumbent, however, as the City continues to grow there are increased pressures on this function which highlights a need to adequately resource the department to ensure proper financial transparency and reporting requirements are met. With possible upcoming retirements in critical positions within the department in the next 1-3 years, the City is currently working on succession plans for these positions. As part of the succession planning, and in order to maintain service levels, the addition of multiple positions is required. Recommendation: The City hire one (1) regular, full-time Senior Accountant and one (1) additional regular, full-time Accounting Technician. The Senior Accountant will focus on: - Assisting in developing and maintaining financial and reporting systems, liaising with the City’s auditors, preparing annual year-end financial statements, audit working papers and statutory financial reports, including account reconciliation and analysis - Assisting with property taxes The Accounting Technician will focus on: - Accounts receivable - Accounts payable - Property taxes - Assuming the general finance functions from the Payroll Coordinator to allow that position to focus on payroll Impact on Service Levels: The addition of a Senior Accountant will allow the City to continue succession planning efforts within the department. It will provide a dedicated position for financial reporting, ensuring the City is able to meet all reporting requirements. An additional Accounting Technician will allow the City to have a dedicated payroll position, which is necessary for an employer with approximately 150 employees. This will also ensure the City continues succession planning efforts within the department and provide cross-over and business continuity for this critical function. ### 6. Community Patrol Officer (regular, full-time) Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $24,275 (4 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $76,872 (2023 rates) *Including benefits The Community Safety & Municipal Enforcement (Bylaw) Department is currently made up of one (1) Manager of Community Safety & Municipal Enforcement, one (1) Senior Bylaw Enforcement Officer, two (2) Bylaw Enforcement Officers, two (2) Community Patrol Officers (CPO), two (2) seasonal CPO, one (1) Part-Time Administrative Assistant, and multiple casual Bylaw Enforcement Officers. Over the last few years, the department has experienced a notable increase in the numbers of public complaints and general workload demands due to the rising population in the City. This has highlighted a demonstrated need for additional support at the CPO level to provide additional coverage to the Bylaw Enforcement team specifically in ensuring the publics’ expectations with respect to parking enforcement are met and to ensure safely of staff given the rise in the unhoused population (given the recent death of a Burnaby RCMP officer during a bylaw enforcement call). Recommendation: Extend one summer/seasonal CPO position to the end of 2023 in a full-time capacity, and to confirm that CPO position as regular, full-time position into 2024 and beyond. Presently, the departmental budget already anticipates that two (2) seasonal bike patrol positions will run from April until September 30. Impact on Service Levels: The addition of another regular, full-time CPO will ensure the department has the staffing levels to meet increased workload and meet or exceed all safety requirements under WorkSafeBC. The additional CPO will allow all Bylaw Enforcement staff attending high risk calls to have back-up with them or on call, ensuring that no employee is left to work alone. This will enable the department, and in particular, the senior bylaw enforcement officer, to dedicate the necessary time to other bylaw matters occurring across the City. ### 7. Administrative Assistant - Bylaw (conversion to regular, full-time) Existing Funding $64,000 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $9,151 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024* $20,115* (2023 rates) *The annual cost including benefits of a full-time Administrative Assistant less existing funding for the regular part-time position As previously noted, the Bylaw Enforcement Department is experiencing increasing numbers of public complaints and emerging workload demands year over year, which means the role of the department’s Administrative Assistant is more crucial to maintaining current inward and outward service levels. Administrative duties such as fielding incoming telephone complaints for transference to Officers in the field, reliable daily maintenance of the MTI ticketing systems for Court processes, and the increasing need to prepare, proof and deal with correspondence, internal reports, and more, now demands this position be staffed five days per week. Further, the City has been unable to roll out the Bylaw Enforcement Notice Adjudication System, approved by Council more that 18 months ago, due to a lack of resources in this role. Recommendation: The City convert the existing regular, part-time position to a regular, full-time position at an increase of 14 hours per week. Impact on Service Levels: Converting the existing regular part-time (3 days per week) Administrative Assistant to a regular full-time (5 days per week) position will allow the department to keep up with the increasing number of calls and complaints at current service levels. Having additional administrative support will take away the need for Bylaw Enforcement Officers and CPOs to conduct general administrative tasks, which will increase efficiencies as they are more able to properly dedicate their time and work effort to focus on complex investigative tasks they are trained for. ### COMMENTARY - Part 3 of 3 Source pages: 451–461 Bylaw Enforcement is the only department within the City operating without at least one (1) full-time Administrative Assistant. With the number of full time and Auxiliary/Casual Officers being relied upon to address public complaints or deal with community safety issues, the need for proper internal support and coordination is paramount. Delays in correspondence and reporting functions may lead to Court cases being unattended and dismissed and some internal functions being set back or missed entirely. ### 8. Municipal Employees – West Shore RCMP Detachment Existing Funding $0.00 Actual Budget Impact 2023* $50,000 (7 months in 2023) Actual Annual Budget Impact 2024** $82,000 (2023 rates) *Based on an average annual cost of $80,000 per ME. **Based on an average annual cost of $80,000 per ME and includes the bargained 2.5% annual increase. Pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Province of BC and Municipal Police Detachments, the City is required to provide support staff to the West Shore RCMP detachment. These support staff provide administration and analyst support and help to ensure proper and efficient operations of the detachment. The current 20-year agreement covers the period beginning April 1, 2012, and ending March 31, 2032. The City and the West Shore RCMP detachment has generally tried to maintain a general strength ratio of RCMP officers to Municipal Employees (MEs). The current ratio is 3:1, meaning for every three (3) RCMP officers, the City provides one (1) ME to support the administration and operations of the detachment. Currently, the City funds 61 RCMP officers and employs a total of 21 full-time equivalent (FTE) MEs (for a current ratio of 2.90). Note that the City’s two municipal managers at the detachment are excluded from this ratio. As such, the City is already more than meeting the agreed upon ratio of RCMP officers to MEs. Should the number of RCMP officers funded by the City become greater than 63, the City will be required to add one (1) ME. While not every ME is paid the same, the average cost to the municipality per ME is approximately $80,000 including benefits. Recommendation: That the City hire one (1) Municipal Employee should Council approve the addition of more than three (3) RCMP officers in 2023. ### FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Source pages: 451–461 ## FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The City’s Employee Salary Policy provides for a salary range for each position, and for that reason, the budget that is included in the Five Year Financial Plan for wages is calculated at 90% of the max annual salary for the position in the first year, and 95% of the max annual salary on-going. The calculations in this report reflect the same approach. The benefits load (cost of benefits) is calculated at 25% of wages. Where the position being requested requires a new job description (one that does not currently exist within the City), an estimated classification level and corresponding pay rate is used for the calculation. The final classification of the position may vary, based on the finalized job description. Costs for 2023 are calculated based on the number of months the position may be filled, considering budget approval and posting timelines. As noted in previous reports, in 2023, a 1% tax increase equals approximately $380,000. The additional Arts, Culture, and Economic Development Coordinator, Parks Facilities Coordinator, Records Assistant, Senior Accountant, Accounting Technician, Community Patrol Officer and the conversion of one (1) regular part-time Administrative Assistant to regular full-time, will have an impact on property taxes in 2023 as follows: | Position | Department | 2023 Tax Impact | 2024 Tax Impact | |---|---:|---:|---:| | Arts, Culture & Economic Development Coordinator | Administration | $51,610 | $93,390 | | Parks Facilities Coordinator | Parks | $58,105 | $105,143 | | Records Assistant | Legislative Services | $46,484 | $84,115 | | Senior Accountant | Finance | $69,867 | $126,427 | | Accounting Technician | Finance | $51,961 | $94,026 | | Community Patrol Officer | Bylaw Enforcement | $24,275 | $76,872 | | Administrative Assistant – Bylaw | Bylaw Enforcement | $9,151 | $20,115 | | **City Hall Totals** | | **$311,457** | **$600,088** | | Position | Department | 2023 Tax Impact | 2024 Tax Impact | |---|---:|---:|---:| | Municipal Employee | Police Services | $50,000 | $80,000 | | **Police Services Totals** | | **$50,000** | **$80,000** | Overall Totals $361,457 $680,088 The proposed positions, including at the RCMP detachment, will have an approximate 0.95% impact on property taxes in 2023. Overall, the proposed positions will have an approximate 1.79% impact on property taxes in 2024. It is worth noting that for 2023, it is projected that the City will receive approximately $1,750,000 tax revenue due to Non-market Change (new property tax revenue associated with growth) and while this revenue will be realized regardless of the positions added, it is reflective of the need for these positions due to growth and can be seen to offset some, or all, of the tax increase impact associated with the addition of these positions. ### LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Source pages: 451–461 ## LEGAL IMPLICATIONS None. ### OPTIONS Source pages: 451–461 ## OPTIONS ### Option 1 THAT Committee of the Whole directs staff to include the following positions in the 2023 Budget and 2023 – 2027 Five Year Financial Plan for consideration: a. One (1) regular full-time Arts, Culture & Economic Development Coordinator; b. One (1) regular full-time Parks Facilities Coordinator; c. One (1) regular full-time Records Assistant; d. One (1) regular full-time Senior Accountant; e. One (1) regular full-time Accounting Technician; f. One (1) regular full-time Community Patrol Officer; AND a. The conversion of one (1) regular part-time Administrative Assistant - Bylaw to regular full-time; AND a. The addition of one municipal employee at the RCMP detachment for every three officers added. ### OR Option 2 THAT Committee of the Whole directs staff to include one or more of the above roles in the 2023 budget and 2023-2027 Five Year Financial Plan. ### OR Option 3 THAT Committee of the Whole does not support the addition or conversion of any full-time or temporary positions at this time. ### SUBMITTED BY Source pages: 451–461 ## SUBMITTED BY Christie Klein, Manager of Human Resources Concurrence: Donna Petrie, Senior Manager of Business Development and Events Concurrence: Chris Aubrey, Fire Chief Concurrence: Yari Nielsen, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities Concurrence: Katelyn Balzer, P.Eng., Director of Engineering and Public Works Concurrence: Matthew Baldwin, MCIP, RPP, Director of Planning and Subdivision Concurrence: Michael Dillabaugh, CPA, CA, Director of Finance Concurrence: Marie Watmough, Deputy Director of Corporate Services Concurrence: Braden Hutchins, Director of Corporate Services Concurrence: Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer