Bandied about as a potential course of action for the past several years, zero-based budgeting might finally become a reality in the City of Greater Sudbury in time for the 2024 budget cycle.
During Tuesday’s audit committee meeting, Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier and Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh presented a successful motion for city auditor general Ron Foster to audit zero-based budgeting next year.
“It’s not necessarily a new idea, it’s been tried to different degrees by different municipalities, different levels of government, across different jurisdictions,” Cormier told Sudbury.com after the meeting. “We just felt this was an appropriate method to take a deeper dive into it.”
Cormier’s motion, which passed unanimously during Tuesday’s meeting, will see Foster assess the merits of undertaking reviews that incorporate a zero-based approach for specific services.
The audit will compare “the anticipated costs and benefits of such reviews with the current value-for-money audit approach” and recommend services for future zero-based reviews in a report to the audit committee on June 20, 2023.
“It’s probably been a while in the making to take a deeper dive into the budget process in this regard,” Cormier said during the meeting, clarifying that he and McIntosh cleared the plan with Foster prior to the day’s meeting to ensure he has time to add it to next year’s work plan.
Though it has also been a known approach for decades, zero-based budgeting gained a resurgence of attention during this year’s civic election due to several candidates pledging to push for its implementation if elected.
In a past report to city council, administration defined zero-based budgeting as follows:
“Every budget line begins at zero for each new budget period. Each cost and revenue element is assessed to determine if it is still required for delivering the business plan. Services and service levels are reviewed and changes are considered to find a result that achieves desired financial objectives.”
During a presentation to city council last year, CAO Ed Archer said the approach might be helpful, and if adopted on a gradual approach through the city’s 58 lines of service, could save the city $3 to $5 for every dollar invested.
Other city audits planned for next year include Engineering Services, Economic Development, IT Security, Landfill Management and other program/process audits.
Tuesday’s meeting saw McIntosh elected as chair of the audit committee, and Cormier elected as vice-chair. Other members include Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin, Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre and Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti. Mayor Paul Lefebvre also attended Tuesday’s meeting.
Two performance audits were tabled during Tuesday’s meeting, including an audit of linear water and wastewater infrastructure, and the city’s waste collection services.
The linear water and wastewater infrastructure audit set out to “assess the extent of regard for economy, efficiency and effectiveness within the maintenance processes for the city’s linear water and wastewater infrastructure.”
The city maintains 1,000 kilometres of water mains and 800 kilometres of sewer collection pipes, and the report concludes the city’s cost per kilometre is in line with those of municipal peers.
A 2018 report indicated that 25 per cent of the city’s water mains and 50 per cent of the city’s wastewater pipes have reached or exceeded their expected service lives.
This, the new audit report indicated, is why city council adopted a long-range financial plan that includes 4.8 per cent annual water/wastewater rate increases.
Despite these increases, approximately $78 million of the $98.5 million of capital upgrades to water mains and $18 million of the $30.7 million of capital upgrades to the city’s wastewater sewer pipes recommended for completion by 2021 in the 2016 Master Plan have not been completed.
Further, only four of the 20 highest-risk water main projects identified in a 2018 report have been completed.
The waste collection services audit notes that Greater Sudburians produce less waste than some other municipalities in Ontario, but pay more.
Per-property (all property types included), Greater Sudburians produced 0.48 tonnes on average of waste at a cost of $174 to dispose in 2021.
Hamilton was 0.98 tonnes/$166, London was 0.81 tonnes/$119, Windsor was 0.97 tonnes/$115, and Thunder Bay’s 2021 numbers weren’t available, but in 2020 was 0.95 tonnes/$175.
The report notes that Greater Sudbury’s numbers are affected by the inclusion of leaf and yard waste collection, a lower population density than the others and greater service levels locally.
The auditor recommends reviewing service levels to seek efficiencies related to the collection of large furniture, appliances and electronics, and household waste.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
