Kamloops council opts against wage freeze, cooling city buildings in budget deliberations

Heat will stay on at city hall

Kamloops city council has rejected a slate of proposed cost-cutting measures — from cooling municipal buildings to freezing management wages — as it works to trim this year’s budget.

During a meeting last week, David Hallinan, City of Kamloops corporate services director, provided a report on a number of budget cuts considered by council in a closed-door meeting earlier this year.

“Each of these items were presented to council, and council took a perspective of looking at the overall impact of the city,” he said at the Feb. 10 meeting.

He said council mulled organizational risks, environmental, cultural and social considerations, asset management, staff recruitment and retention, and things like city aesthetics, reputation and tourism as part of its deliberations.

Hallinan said the meeting took place in mid-December when the provisional tax rate sat at 10.76 per cent. He said it was closed to the public as many of the items dealt with contracted situations covered under privacy laws.

The provisional property tax rate is currently at 5.7 per cent after the most recent round of budget adjustments.

Cooling city buildings

According to Hallinan’s report, one of the cost-cutting initiatives put forward for consideration included making city buildings 1 C cooler in the winter, and 1 C warmer in the summer.

The director said this adjustment could, in theory, save $200,000 in electric or natural gas costs — but in actuality, the past has showed this to be an ineffective strategy.

“This was done actually in 2021, I believe. The result was a significant increase in portable heaters being purchased by staff in order to warm areas,” Hallinan said.

“The results have been proven historically that this doesn’t work. If anything, it actually ends up costing us more money as staff and people visiting the buildings are looking for comfort.”

Council decided to reject this strategy, also considering that some city buildings can be used by residents as warming or cooling spaces and these facility users should be provided with a comfortable space.

Wage freeze turned down

Hallinan said Kamloops council members felt a wage freeze for management and other non-union staff would have too many negative impacts if this measure was implemented.

According to the director, council discussed the idea but felt it could result in managers feeling undervalued and potential increased staff turnover. It could be more difficult to recruit qualified candidates for open jobs, Hallinan said, and could result in “pay compression issues” with union employees who receive contractual wage increases.

“It would be very challenging for somebody who is making, as an example, $90,000 a year to supervise and lead someone who's making $120,000 when the person who's in the management role actually has a greater degree of responsibility,” Hallinan said.

Council felt this measure could create dissatisfaction and decrease incentive for union staff to advance in their careers.

The cost-cutting measure was priced at $650,000.

Council did direct staff to proceed with a temporary hiring delay through an extension of the recruitment process for vacant positions categorized as being low risk.

Hallinan said high risk positions will be included in the delay but prioritized for recruitment. He said staff will be tracking the effectiveness of this strategy to reduce costs for the city.

The committee heard out of the 32 existing staff vacancies, one is a management position.

Concrete, snow clearing, weed control

Council decided against using blacktop for patching sidewalks instead of full concrete rehabilitation — a move that would have saved about $162,000.

“The cost of concrete is candidly out of control,” Hallinan said, adding the material cost has increased by 10 per cent annually since 2021.

However, there were concerns that a different type of material may not hold up well in temperature extremes, leading to more issues.

“The decision was to remain utilizing sidewalk repair as concrete in order to make certain that we have a consistent surface that will be free of trip hazards,” Hallinan said.

In total, Hallinan reported on 13 potential cost-reducing items put forward by staff, nine of which council decided against removing from the budget.

Council members were also presented with options for removing the budget for graffiti and camp cleanups, cancelling some social program agreements and service agreements but felt cutting funding to these areas would have negative impacts for the community.

Council also decided against scaling back snow clearing in specific areas, and opted to keep planting flower beds and maintaining boulevards for weeds.

Council considered scaling back the taxable contribution for its Build Kamloops program, which would have resulted in $810,000 in savings, but opted against this move as it would have meant increased taxation in future years in order to support debt servicing levels.

Council asked staff to investigate three areas where potential taxpayer savings could be found, including ways to draw more users to Westsyde Pool and Fitness Centre, which is being heavily subsidized by tax dollars.