New advisory group proposed to City of Powell River finance committee

City of Powell River Council will consider the establishment of a community finance advisory committee (CFAC) as a select committee of council.

At the finance committee on February 27, corporate officer Chris Jackson provided a report on the proposed committee, saying council was requesting and staff were undertaking an internal review of finances. He said the CFAC, if formed, is going to be asked to look at services being delivered and whether the community wants those services and at what levels. He said staff is looking at how to efficiently deliver those services.

Terms of reference identify that the committee will be wrapping up by May 15, 2021.

“That’s ambitious,” said Jackson. “The reason why that was chosen is that is when the next financial plan has to be completed according to legislation, so anything we get out of this group between now and then can be implemented that year.

“Of course there is the possibility of extending it further because the scope of work is large.”

The CFAC will review the city’s financial health and stability, recommend alignment of city services with what property owners and residents are willing to pay for, recommend different strategies and guiding principles in relation to finances, and also consult broadly, according to Jackson.

There will be public engagement, and members of the committee will go back to their groups and start having discussions. Jackson said everyone can learn from that process.

The committee will be comprised of up to 14 people, all residents and/or property owners. Two will be members of council, including mayor Dave Formosa and finance committee chair George Doubt.

There will be up to 12 members of the public and rather than identifying particular groups or agencies to try and get representation from, the idea is to have those 12 open members of the public at large, so when looking at the different applicants, a committee can be built of members who are diversified and balanced.

“You can build a group based on what you think is going to work,” said Jackson.

He said the three areas the committee is tasked to review and provide advice on are city expenses, revenues and reserves: what the city is spending the money on, where it is getting the money and how much is being set aside.

The committee will be resourced through the city’s finance department and a $5,000 budget is being proposed to assist with meeting expenses, public engagement and logistics.

Formosa said he and Doubt, the chief administrative officer, the chief financial officer and the corporate officer had engaged in numerous meetings to create terms of reference for the CFAC.

Formosa said the people from the community would be looking at the financial affairs of the city. He added that the committee would be bringing in “taxpayers, members of the business community, soccer folks and seniors.”

“To join this committee, they will need to be committed and understand what it is to be like a councillor, because they have to understand what it is we understand about how taxation is created and how the operations work,” said Formosa. “This will be a group of our peers, the taxpayers, who will sit down and see what the challenges are. They’ve got some big issues to deal with.”

Doubt said this is about going to the community. He said CFAC members are not going to make decisions, they are going to advise the council. He said the city could hire a consultant to do this, or, take advantage of the people in the community who have a direct investment, and who care about the community, live here, work here and make their living here.

“There’s a lot of smart and caring people in this community who have things to offer,” said Doubt. “We are proposing that we draw on those volunteers within the community to give advice to council and to go out and communicate with the citizenry and get their involvement in this project.

“Their goal is to review all of the expenses, revenues and the reserves of the city and the financial matters that make a difference to us, and come back with reports on them.”

City of Powell River Council will vote on the establishment of the CFAC.