Friday, February 28, 2014

Crowsnest Pass, How do we compare?

For those that love numbers, how do we compare as a community to other communities of relative size to ourselves financially.

The following are numbers we were provided with at our first budget meeting last night. (Next meeting is in Council chambers on March 6 2pm to discuss 2014 Capital Projects).

CNP compared to the following 18 communities (2012 numbers used):

Pincher Creek, Claresholm, Raymond, Grande Cache, Barrhead, Vermillion, Westlock, Didsbury, Jasper, Redcliff, Stettler, Vegreville, St Paul, Wainwright, Devon, Peace River, Blackfalds, Ponoka.

Population wise they all between 3,600 and 6,800 residents:

Equalized Assessment per Capita: CNP had an average assessment of $169,142 per resident second highest in the list to only Jasper.

Cost of Interest and Banking per Capita:   CNP $7 the average of the group $43

Cost of Materials, Goods, Supplies and Utilities Per Capita:  CNP $497  the average of the group $401

Cost of Contracted and General Services Per Capita:  CNP $621 with the average of the group being $479

Cost of Salaries, Wages and Benefits Per Capita: CNP $937 with the average of the group being $720

Major Expenditures Per Capita by Broad Function:

General Government CNP $386  Average $264
Protective Services CNP $267  Average $232
Transportation CNP $872  Average $498
Environment CNP $521 Average $519
Recreation CNP $448  Average $425

Revenue Source Per Capita, Sales and User Fees:

CNP $712  Average $675

Revenue Source Per Capita, Grants:

CNP $936  Average $482

Revenue Source Per Capita, Net Municipal Property Taxes:

CNP $1,218  Average $874

Long Term Municipal Debt per Capita:

CNP $211  Average $1,066

Tax Collection Rates:

CNP 92.4%   Average 97.4%

Equalized Assessment Per Capita:

CNP $169,142  Average $117,601

Equalized Tax Rate Residential:

CNP 9.4%  Average 9.3%

Equalized Tax Rate Non Residential:

CNP 13.2% Average 14.1%


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do not loose sight of the fact that you can not fix three years of stupid in three months. Man I feel for you guys.

Anonymous said...

Does the 2012 average assessment include the Devon gas plant? If so, how much lower is it now?

Anonymous said...

Did council take the 40,000$ that was earmarked for RumRunners days and hand it over to the Hillcrest mine disaster celebration? If yes, how was this justified? It seems to me this would have been an opportunity to save that money and not just spend it because something else got cancelled.
Also can you comment on this:
Councillor Shar Lazzarotto moved that Council authorize administration to contact
the former Mayor, Mr. Bruce Decoux, and request his assistance to represent the
Municipality on an existing Municipal legal file.”

Crowsnest Pass Home said...

1. No decision has been made on the $40,000, we just started budget on Thursday Feb 27.

2. Council stated in it's Press Release that there are outstanding legal issues left over from the last council. The former Mayor was part of the process during the last three years he "may" have information that is relevant to these legal matters.

Anonymous said...

"2. Council stated in it's Press Release that there are outstanding legal issues left over from the last council. The former Mayor was part of the process during the last three years he "may" have information that is relevant to these legal matters."

It bugged me that some of the previous councillors would say "we" did something-or-other, but I couldn't find any relevant Council resolutions.

"MGA 180(1) A council may act only by resolution or bylaw." This is the ancient principle of the "Rule of Law".

A resolution makes the Administration responsible for doing something and keeping proper records. If a Mayor or Councillors get involved in dealings with outside parties without passing a resolution and going through Administration channels then we don't have proper records and we are in big trouble if any legal issues come up. I am not happy with the notion that Decoux should "represent the Municipality" as a result of his illegal actions.

BTW: The Mayor of a BC Municipality promised a developer water supplies. The developer invested millions, but it turned out the Municipality could not deliver the water, so the developer sued. The Municipality lost and was bankrupt. I hope CNP is not in a situation like that.

Crowsnest Pass Home said...

Did not say that the previous Mayor would represent the municipality. Just stated that he may have information relevant to legal matters.
Which BC municipality are you referring to? I would be very eager to read more on this issue.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

"Which BC municipality are you referring to?"

The bottom half of this article.
http://www.dhzmedia.ca/page311.htm#sthash.CHvZETI8.dpbs
Not exactly as I remembered it.

Anonymous said...

The one thing your report does not show Dean is the comparison on what we pay for Franchise Fees versus other communities.