Questions on draft 2024-2028 financial plan

Questions on draft 2024-2028 financial plan

From:

To:

Budget2024

Subject:

Questions on draft 2024-2028 financial plan

Date:

February 9, 2024 3:04:45 PM

Good afternoon,

I have been reading the budget documents posted on the City's website for the draft 2024-2028 financial plan, and I look forward to watching the video recording of the Committee of the Whole meeting held last night. The documents look great and I appreciate the significant staff resources that have obviously gone into them, in an effort to demystify the budget process for Langford residents. Kudos to your staff for that.

I have a couple of questions based on my initial read through the documents that I'm hoping you can address. These are:

YMCA:

1. Is the proposed purchase of the facility represented by the $41.05M item funded by debt on the line titled "FA08 - Admin Property Purchase" of the 2024 capital budget?
2. Is the revenue of $108K on the line titled "0561 - Purchase & Sale Agreement - Revenue Fee" beginning in 2024 also associated with the YMCA facility, assuming the purchase of the facility? Note: if the answer to this question is "no" could you kindly confirm what this line is for, and point out where in the draft financial plan I can find revenues associated with the purchased YMCA facility, or if there are any?
3. The presentation slides for the February 8, 2024 Committee of the Whole meeting show an 11.79% tax increase including the purchase of the YMCA facility, and a 10.04% tax increase without the debt service costs associated with the purchase. Do any of the figures provided in the budget documents contemplate the revenue and expense impacts associated with not purchasing the YMCA facility? I would anticipate that under such a scenario, revenue would be reduced and expenses would be increased perhaps by as much as the $1.9M operating subsidy paid in 2023. Can you please clarify?

Non-YMCA related questions:

4. It appears the City's phased reduction in the use of the general amenity reserve fund to offset tax increases is less aggressive than what we saw in the 2023-2027 financial plan. This is evident in the planned transfer from the reserve in 2026 which is $1.25M in the 2024-2028 plan but only $1M in the 2023-2027 plan. Is this an accurate description of what is proposed?
5. What is the status of the Growing Communities Fund $16.464M provincial grant that the City received? This was proposed to be a significant source of funding for the capital strategy proposed in last year's budget that involved the YMCA purchase, RCMP detachment, and future asset management costs. It's not clear from the budget documents whether this money is still being earmarked for these purposes (excluding the RCMP detachment), as there is no mention of the grant.

I do have additional feedback on the budget that is more appropriately submitted as feedback to Council, which I will send separately. Answers to the above questions are certain to influence that feedback.

Thank you very much for your ongoing efforts,

Frazer Johnson