Council Committee to receive economic update this week

Lethbridge City Council will convene as Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee for two days, beginning Wednesday, November 13, for an overview of the current economic conditions and the impact they have on the City’s financial position and resources.

The proceedings will begin Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. with an Economic Update presentation from Darrell Mathews, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. He will highlight the following topics: local economic conditions; Alberta’s Consumer Price Index; taxation pressures; utility pressure; Operating and Capital pressures; labour market; overnight bank rate; and impact on reserves.

In his September 2024 Operating Forecast, Mathews will then provide status updates to Operating Budget variance, statements and schedules and Capital Budget schedules. These summaries include the initiatives’ budget, actuals, performance measurements and the results achieved as of August 31, 2024.

“As we look at the overall state of the City of Lethbridge’s financials, there is certainly some cautious optimism,” says Mathews. “Our department continues to work hard to deliver effective and efficient financial planning for Council, staff and for our residents.”

Following Mathews’ presentations, there are nearly 20 other presentations and submissions on a number of matters (the full agenda can be viewed here) for the Economic and Finance SPC to discuss.

“We want to remind our residents that we have already have an approved four-year Operating Budget through 2026, so to be clear: we are not re-opening the full budget during this review process,” says Mayor Blaine Hyggen. “This week’s meetings will be focused on discussing status updates for the remainder of this Council’s term and to ensure we best prepare the next Council for future successes.”

The City’s Capital budget is a plan that includes one-time construction costs and associated funding sources required to complete capital projects in the community. The City's Operating Budget involves the day-to-day costs of delivering municipal services and programs such as police, emergency services, roads and parks. As always, Administration will continue to report urgent or unusual financial information to Audit Committee, Economic and Finance SPC or City Council, as required.

More background on the City's finances and documents can be found here. A breakdown of value-added life in Lethbridge (including tax rate increase trends of the past 20 years) can be found here.

The Economic and Finance SPC meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 13, The Committee is also scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 14. Sessions are anticipated to run until 4:30 p.m. each day. These meetings are open to the public and will be livestreamed on the City's YouTube page.

Any recommendations from the Committee will be forwarded to City Council for potential approval at a regular meeting.

Timeline background:

• May 2024: Council voted unanimously to approve changes for the 2027-2030 Capital and the 2028-2031 Operating budget process, including adding a stub year for 2026. Full details here
• November 2022: City Council approved the 2023-2026 Operating Budget
• July 2022: City Council approved existing 2026 capital projects within the 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to align with Operating Budget timelines to allow the 2023-2026 Operating and Capital budgets to be aligned and set the stage for future budget deliberations
• August 2021 (see May 2024 bullet for updates): The previous Council approved a budgeting process that will align the approvals of the four-year cycle of Operating Budget and the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) into the same year. This change will also add an annual review and adjustment of the budgets for years two, three and four of the cycle
• June 2021: The previous Council approved the 2022-2031 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)