Special Council meeting to look at municipal services review

Jeff Green | Oct 14, 2020

At a Special Council meeting this week, to which all members of Council for the four Frontenac Municipalities have been virtually invited to, two reports will be presented. One is a report on two Eastern Ontario Regional Network projects aimed at transforming cell and internet access for the vast majority of Eastern Ontario residents.

The other is a municipal services review that has been in the works for most of 2020. The detailed report, by Strategy Corp, looks at 10 areas that have been identified as the most likely to result in “potential increased revenue” and/or “potential direct savings” and or “potential productivity gains”.

The ten service areas include: co-ordination of capital projects, fire services, building and septic inspection services, by-law enforcement, procurement, paper-based processes and IT services, planning for waterfront development, legal services, and Human Resources.

The options looked at by the consultants include maintaining local control within each township, contracting service for all townships to one township or the county level, contracting services to an outside vendor for some or all of the townships, and partnering with municipalities from outside Frontenac County.

Some of the potential financial gains that were identified by Strategy Corp are slim when considered in the context of the collective budgets of the five municipalities (which approaches $90 million per year).

For example, the “potential benefit” identified for co-ordinating bylaw services is $36,000 in productivity gains.

Others have more potential for direct savings, which could result in tax relief or a transfer of funds to high priority initiatives.

For example, according to the report, acquiring “in-house procurement expertise to decrease risk, improve staff productivity, and drive cost savings through collaboration” would result in a potential direct saving of between $403,000 and $4.4 million dollars when instituted.

The range of potential benefits reflects the difference between an overall savings of 5% (,ow end) and 15% (high end).

The upfront cost for the change would be the $80,000 annual salary for a procurement specialist to be employed by one of the townships or Frontenac County.

Another initiative that was identified by the report would have the greatest impact in South and Central Frontenac. It is the amalgamation of the two fire departments into one department. The savings from this initiative are moderate when compared to the overall fire budget ($100,000 per year in total for both municipalities’, with the exception of a one-time cost saving for Central Frontenac township which could avoid the purchase of a new pumper.

But the consultants say that improvements in staffing, facility management, fleet management, and improved services would be substantial so long as the process of amalgamation is sensitive to the needs and morale of the volunteer firefighters working in both townships currently and in the future.

Overall, the report identifies potential savings of $637,000 and potential revenue increase of $398,000 in South Frontenac per year.

For Central Frontenac, the potential savings are $288,000 and potential revenue increases are $225,000 per year.

For North Frontenac, the potential savings are $205,000 and potential revenue increases are $250,000.

For Frontenac Islands, , the potential savings are $103,000 and potential revenue increases are $127,000

For the Frontenac County budget, potential savings of $220,000 per year are identified, mostly as the result of human resources co-ordination.

Once the report is presented this week, it will likely result in a series of negotiations between member municipalities for each identified area.

Some those will be two-way negotiations, such as the fire department discussion between South and Central Frontenac, and some will involve all five parties, the 4 townships, Frontenac County and perhaps some outside bodies as well.