Budget rings in hiring wave

Photo: Castanet

Kelowna city hall will be brimming with new employees next year.

The 2017 provisional city budget, approved by council Thursday, will usher in a new wave of hiring.

No less than 20 new positions will be filled, some full time, some part time and some on two or three-year contracts.

The city has even included temporary four-month positions within the human resources department to help with the hiring process.

"It's more than normal," said city manager Ron Mattiussi.

"In the past a lot of our positions were added strictly because of growth. We are doing more; therefore, we need more people."

Mattiussi said the hiring boom can be broken out into a number of different categories.

"Some are still strictly growth related. But some of those new positions are adding some complexity."

He pointed to a city audit conducted by Canada Revenue Agency this year, prompting the hiring of a financial analyst because of the complexity of the tax system.

"The second group are people we've had to add for things like that – a greater complexity in the business of running the city today. It requires a higher skill level and to save us money.

"I think the one that is the most unique is there are some positions that actually deal with working smarter and making more money. The performance person, the sponsorship person who is out there to try and get us more revenue."

Mattiussi said this year's budget included more of those types of people because he said he wanted new revenue sources and more efficiencies.

The hiring process will begin early in the new year.