MEMORANDUM
DATE: March 13, 2023 Report No. ADM-23-009
TO: Committee of the Whole
FROM: Dan Horan, Chief Administrative Officer
SUBJECT:
Title
Staffing Proposals - 2023 Draft Budget
End
INFORMATION:
The 2023 Draft Budget includes proposals for new staff positions that are meant to address challenges faced by the Township in sustaining current levels of service. This memorandum has been prepared to provide Council with background information on the proposed positions in preparation for budget deliberations in March 2023.
The Township has added 8.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions since 2017 to address specific requirements or challenges. These additions are summarized in Table 1 below.
Table 1 - Summary of FTE Changes 2017-2022
|
Position |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Engineering Tech II - Asset Management |
+1.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Planning Technician |
|
+1.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Pipe Layer |
|
|
|
+1.0 |
|
|
|
Labourer II |
|
|
|
+2.0 |
|
|
|
Custodial Maintenance - Gorge Pavilion |
|
|
|
|
|
+1.0 |
|
Lounge and Pavilion Supervisor |
|
|
|
|
|
+0.5 |
|
Engineering Tech III - Project Coordinator |
|
|
|
|
|
+1.0 |
|
Economic Development Manager |
|
|
|
|
|
+1.0 |
|
Total Changes 2017-2022 |
+8.5 |
Whenever new services or greater levels of service are proposed by a municipality, there are usually additional costs for staffing and for operational support. There are other times, however, where staffing changes are proposed to address operational changes or challenges that impact staff’s ability to sustain approved levels of service. After assessing staff’s current capacity, staff are proposing changes that support current levels of service. Business cases for the proposed staffing changes are included as attachments to this memorandum. The table below summarizes the proposed changes.
Table 2 - Summary of Proposed FTE Changes 2023-2024
|
Position |
2023 |
2024 |
|
|
|
|
|
Occupational Health and Safety Manager |
+1.0 |
|
|
Licensing Clerk - Community Safety & Bylaw |
+1.0 |
|
|
Electronic and Paper Filing Clerk |
+1.0 |
-1.0 |
|
Fire Fighters |
+4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
+7.0 |
-1.0 |
On September 26, 2022, Council endorsed the Esquimalt Fire Rescue Services Strategic Plan 2022-2026. Without a change to the Department’s resourcing approach, it will not be possible to make any progress in 3 of the 4 identified Strategic Priorities, namely Deliver Exceptional Customer Service, Enhance Culture, and Support Personal Health and Wellness.
Though Council is currently in the process of reviewing and updating their Strategic Priorities, a key legacy objective still exists under the previous priority of Excellence in Public Service. This objective is to “…ensure capacity is adequate to support the goals in the Strategic Plan.” Some of the Council priority activities completed in recent years include a high tempo of land use development deliberations and decisions, creation of an Economic Development function, and delivery of several key plans (Climate Action Plan, Active Transportation Network Plan, etc.) that are ready to be implemented. The proposed administrative positions are recommended to sustain the current legislative tempo while continuing the development and delivery of Council’s priorities in the coming years.
The CAO briefed Council as part of the Strategic Planning session held on February 27, 2023, that “…the organization is poised to deliver results on a number of recently completed high-level plans and strategies. However, due to the municipality’s limited capacity and resources, focused guidance from Council on priorities will be essential for staff to concentrate action and resources on the right key issues that would deliver results that meet Council’s needs and expectations.” The Council priority process is still ongoing, but indications from the process are that Council and the community continue to have high expectations from the municipality. The full resource implications of Council’s priorities are not yet known; however, the staffing proposals contained in the 2023 Budget represent staff’s current best recommendation as a baseline to support service level commitments.