This is the introduction to the Service Review meeting to be held September 20 at 9 a.m. in Council Chambers.
-by Wayne Ritchie, City Manager
The mission statement for Service Review 2016 was: To provide Council and tax payers with a comprehensive awareness of the services and programs offered by the city, and to identify which should be
enhanced, remain as they are, reduced, or eliminated.
Service Review 2016 has provided City Council, the public, and all City staff the opportunity to review andprovide input on most of the services offered by the City of Owen Sound.
From the beginning Council directed that services reporting through City Hall be reviewed in an open and
transparent manner. The review included:
Rationale for how the service benefits city ratepayers;
Present arrangement for service;
Current operating costs;
Comparison of cost and efficiencies with three similar municipalities (Brockville, Collingwood, Orangeville);
Analysis options.
An initial two-day Service Review 2016 Council meeting was held in March and there were over 60 recommendations from staff for alternatives to the current service models. Council added several recommendations to those from staff.
Following that Service Review meeting, a "public forum" was held with approximately 30 members of the public in attendance. Several Council members along with staff from the Departments under review answered questions and listened to input from those in attendance.
Several additional methods were used to obtain input from the public and staff.
Suggestion boxes were placed at municipal properties throughout the City. Surveys were prepared and responses were accepted electronically and in hard copy. As of this date, the total surveys and responses submitted are just under 1,000.
At Council's second Service Review 2016 meeting held on June 10 th the survey results up to May 30th
were reviewed. The recommendations were also reviewed and Council provided direction to staff on each of them to:
Proceed to implementation;
Provide further information;
Defer any action at this time.
Staff have followed that direction and at this Service Review 2016 Council meeting there are further reports to provide information to assist Council in providing direction.
In Section D of the documents, there is a summary of the Cost Savings of the Recommendations. These are the estimated annual budgetary changes that implementation of the recommendations would result in.
The savings from property taxes is estimated at $586,000 annually, and from Waste Water estimated at
$300,000 annually.
Following today's meeting there will be a Public Forum held on October 17, 2016. During that forum, any
changes in service from decisions made will be presented. This will provide members of the public opportunity to understand and adjust to any changes that may affect them.
Service Review 2016 started six months ago and Council and staff have devoted many hours of time toward its completion. For Council , hopefully this review provides a more thorough understanding of the business that you provide oversight for.
For me the review has reinforced the breadth of services that we operate, and for the most part how
effectively and efficiently they are managed.
I want to thank the public who have taken time to provide Council with their thoughts; I also want to thank my fellow City employees who have provided input . Every comment has been reviewed and valuable insights have been gained from them.
