A consultant who worked on a service review for the City of Powell River has revised the document.
Sean Baird, a partner with the Helios Group, also prepared a report to council about the revisions. Councillors received the report and revised document at the March 29 committee-of-the-whole budget meeting.
The revised report updated financial information used to determine an increase in operating expenses. Using the new accounts, Baird determined operating expenses grew from $17.6 million in 2007 to $19.9 million in 2010, an increase of $2.3 million, or 13.2 per cent. In the same time frame, operating revenues grew from $21.6 million to $23.5 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 8.6 per cent.
The identified gap between operating revenue and operating expense is no longer shrinking year over year. It grew from $1.5 million in 2004 to a high of $5.2 million in 2008 and 2009, then dropped to $3.6 million in 2010.
Baird also updated the average salary of five key management positions to $109,670. The deviation from peer benchmark averages is 1.9 per cent.
No corporate or departmental recommendations were fundamentally changed, although some of the supporting information has been revised. Wording related to the city being financially unsustainable has been revised to reflect that the city will have difficulty maintaining financial sustainability in the face of many economic pressures. Recommendations to reduce operating costs remain.
The revised report was referred to council for approval.
