Budget commentary from Monday left more questions on Council travel than it answered

Details related to Travel for City Council members made for
one question from Monday's  Budget Comment portion of the Council Session

The participation at Monday's City Council Budget engagement session was low to say the least, with but one member of the public asking questions and making comments on the 2020 Financial plan and budget ambitions.

And for the most part, the questions that resident Larry Golden asked didn't really gain any answers that provided for much clarification on two of the items on his list.

During the question and answer period, he picked up on the city's themes of progress on the need for a new RCMP detachment, inquiring as to whether the city had settled on a location for the new facility.

The task of answering the questions from the public fell to Chief Financial Officer Corinne Bomben, who had previously outlined the notes on the RCMP facility through her presentation on the Budget Surplus, where she had observed how the city has had the proposed detachment build on its list for years and is  now moving forward.

"... incorporate the remainder of the expected loan repayment on the new RCMP detachment. This years allocation combined with the allocation last year, means that the expected cost of the loan is completely covered. This project has been on our to do list for nearly a decade, we are very pleased that we will soon be able to start this project with no anticipated impact to taxpayers" -- CFO Corinne Bomben during Monday's Budget Commentary Session

But as for a location, Ms. Bomben observed that none has been decided on as of yet, nor did she provide for any kind of timeline when it comes to a start date for the much discussed and long delayed facility.

A more expansive topic review from the Budget consultation came from a simple question as to where a resident could find a break down when it comes to the City Council travel budget and expenses, as well as to how that travel is approved.

That enquiry was once again answered by the CFO who took Mr. Golden and anyone tuning in from home into the byzantine reaches of Civic financial documents.

The main takeaway from comments, being that the travel budget is included in a catch all category known as Civic Governance, which is listed as a lump sum number and doesn't  provide for much of a guide as to how much Council members travel, nor how much they are spending while on those travels.

"The travel is included in the governance section of the department and it is always based on what was allocated in the previous year  ... The dollar value is included in the budget and within that dollar value dependent on whatever Council's priorities are, for instance if the Mayor goes down and meets with a Minister as long as its within the approved budget as per the bylaw, then it is OK for him to go and advocate for the community in that fashion"  

She further noted that there is "sign off for anybody's travel" though she did not expand on how that sign of  process takes place, or who is responsible towards making for any final authorizations.

The list of expenditures related to the 2020 Budget planning
(click to enlarge)

The chart that Ms. Bomben referenced was included as part of the Agenda for the February 24th Council session and it shows that in 2019 Governance accounted for a Budget of $353,000, while the 2020 Budget makes note of $371,000.  

That would make for an increase of $18,000 to be directed towards that all encompassing category

All of which leaves one to wonder how much is being spent on travel compared to say, how much the city spends on office supplies and other sundry items that may fall under the rather all encompassing governance category.

You can review Both the Budget presentation and the public comment portion of Monday's Budget presentation starting at the 26 minute mark of Monday's Council session.



While the Council members don't generally answer questions, or respond to comments during the Budget consultations, they could have taken up the topic later in the evening during their own time for comments at the end of the Council session.

Though on Monday evening none of the Council members chose to explore the question raised by the city resident.

It's not quite clear why City Council never seems to discuss the theme of travel, or why they can't just post their travel notes on the city website.

Something which would  provide a list of when the Mayor, Council members and senior staffers have gone out of town, how long they travelled for, the purpose of the travel and what their total expenses were.

Considering the frequent use of the words transparency and accountability that politicians at all levels like to use these days, those paying the taxes that provide for the travel budget probably shouldn't have to seek out the services of a forensic auditor to determine who much travel is being done on our behalf and how much it's costing.

More notes on Monday's Council Session can be explored from our Council Timeline Feature here.

A wider overview of past Council discussion themes is available from our archive page here.