The MD of Bighorn refutes a spending report that indicates it was the second least fiscally sustainable municipality in Alberta for the 2003-13 period.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released a recent report entitled Alberta Municipal Spending Report, 2015, which analyzes Alberta’s municipal operating spending for populations of 1,000 or more.
The report suggested the MD only saw a three per cent population growth over that period (2013 being the latest data was collected), with a whopping 316 per cent change in real operating spending. The report says in 2013, the MD’s real operating spending per capita growth is $7,072.
The report also suggested between 2012-13, the MD performed the worst in Alberta with a 171 per cent increase in real operating spending per capita.
The MD “does not accept the CFIB calculations,” stated MD Chief Administrative Officer Martin Buckley in a press release.
Buckley said when $7,072 is multiplied by its 2013 population (1,341) the MD would have spent close to $9.5 million in real operating spending.
“The 2013 audited financial statements show the MD’s expenditures for that year, exclusive of flood recovery-related expenses and amortization, to be only $4,732,967, or $3,529 per capita,” said Buckley.
“The MD’s service levels, which are not all population-based, have increased dramatically since 2003, which is a main reason for increases over the 10-year period.”
Services such as municipal water systems being added to three of its hamlets cost a total of $350,000 in 2013.
The CAO added the report fails to provide a definition of real operating spending.
Buckley and MD Reeve Dene Cooper said the report also fails to recognize unique characteristics of Alberta’s communities.
“The survey cutoff is at 1,000 (population). We are too close to the lower population limit and in my opinion it shows in the results,” said Cooper.
The MD does not have any towns or villages. It is a relatively new municipal district, established in 1988, and has about 1,400 residents in 2,700 square kilometres.
An interview request with a CFIB spokesperson went unanswered by the Outlook’s press time.
The 2013 floods devastated residential areas in the MD, such as Exshaw. The CFIB report says while the 2013 floods had a “sizeable impact on the 2013 figures,” municipal spending has steadily increased at an unsustainable pace since 2003.
MD Reeve Dene Cooper, first elected in 2004, said the MD is financially very well managed.
“I can assure you that our CAO and financial officers have council’s highest regard and full confidence,” he said. “Their operations are reviewed every year by fully accredited professional accountants working within well recognized firms.”
Cooper added that flood recovery programs have “significantly distorted” the MD’s financial reporting. MD flood spending began in May and a significant amount of money has been going out before grants are able to come in.
“Municipalities with low populations do not do well on grants offered on a per capita basis by senior governments,” Cooper said. “Often, we do not qualify to even apply. It is not unusual to have the administrative cost to apply exceed the potential grant benefit.”
