Skip to content

Mayoral hopeful takes aim at city budgets

Greater Sudbury mayoral candidate Evelyn Dutrisac lobs criticism at various facets of the city’s annual budget process in her latest campaign platform media release
020522_TC_Evelyn_Dutrisac 2Sized
Past Ward 4 Coun. Evelyn Dutrisac is seen outside of Tom Davies Square earlier this month, shortly before filing her nomination paperwork with the city to make official her candidacy for mayor in the Oct. 24 election.

A tightening of purse strings and sweeping changes to the city’s budget process highlight mayoral candidate Evelyn Dutrisac’s latest campaign platform media release.

“We the government of the people must stop being such a large contributor to people’s cost of living increases through property taxes and water bills,” she said in the release.

The changes she proposes comes down to the very way in which the city’s annual budgets are put together, with Dutrisac advocating for a zero-based budgeting process. 

Fellow mayoral candidate Miranda Rocca-Circelli advocates for this same budgeting process in her platform, and Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini has also long supported the idea. This style of budgeting starts from zero rather than a fixed number at the start of each planning period and has resource requirements assessed and confirmed with each budget.

Under this model, the implications of service reductions are hashed out alongside maintaining expenditure levels or adjusting them to meet anticipated requirements.

City administration prepared a report on zero-based budgeting last year that highlights its merits and pitfalls. City council ultimately voting it down following a warning that it “would increase the amount of administrative time required to produce the budget without incrementally greater benefits.”

“Enough talking, let’s do it,” Dutrisac said in her media release. 

 “I suggest management, or council if management does not come forward with a suggestion, selects one department to undergo zero-based budgeting for the year 2023. This will allow the citizens and council to see whether there are any savings that could be realized in that department, and equally as important to ensure we are fulfilling needs and not just wants.”

On a similar front, she notes that as managers retire, upper management must make a case to council for refilling positions.

The annual budget process would also be made more robust under a Dutrisac mayoralship, and would “last longer than a few committee sessions.”

Winning awards on how a glossy budget binder looks or how eloquently the budget is presented is not what citizens want,” she said. “I would strive to win the award of public content with a budget that does not take more money of the taxpayers’ pocket that is necessary. I, and council members should also have at our disposal our auditor general, as well as the city’s external auditors to take questions from us to clarify budget items. This will provide us with other professional eyes on the process.”

The bulk of the city’s annual budget decisions are made during a series of finance and administration committee meetings, which are informed by various committee and council meetings that take place throughout the year. City council members vote to approve business cases for budget deliberations.

Pulling a specific budget item aside, Dutrisac said in her media release that out-of-city travel by staff or council should be limited. 

“Now all travel needs to be approved by management, but tighter reins need to be put on this activity,” according to the release. “Mining trade shows where many staff members attend, for example, do not need to be attended by many of our staff members at once.”

Trips to the United States and overseas will not be paid by the taxpayers “unless a business case can be made and there is a financial return to the city who paid for that trip.”

“All city trips must also be listed, specifically in the budget document, and not just as a general travel line,” Dutrisac added.

Vagnini’s $13,820 mileage expense raised concerns earlier this year, with Ward 4 Coun. Geoff McCausland raising the fact that at 53 cents per kilometre, Vagnini claimed 26,076 kilometres for council work in 2021, a year in which the councillor attended meetings virtually and few in-person events took place. Vagnini later explained that he prefers to visit constituents in-person and presides over a large ward.

In her media release, Dutrisac said that she welcomes any further ideas on how to make the budget process more reflective of the needs of the community and geared to reducing the tax burden on local residents.

The City of Greater Sudbury’s taxes are middle of the road compared to Ontario municipalities in general and among the lowest among municipalities with populations greater than 100,000.


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.