City cuts clerk

Lachlan Labere - Salmon Arm Observer Published: March 30, 2010 6:00 PM

An order from council to lower municipal taxes has resulted in the elimination of one city clerk position and a major restructuring of the public works department. City of Salmon Arm administrator Carl Bannister says the clerk position was cut from the city’s engineering department. “Due to, I guess, bumping rights within the collective agreement, it ended up being one of our more recent employees,” said Bannister. “It was an operations clerk in our engineering department.” Meanwhile, the public works department has been reduced from seven supervisors to five, though no jobs were lost in this restructuring. Bannister said this would not impact safety in the public works department.

Cuts were requested by council after an early draft of the city budget indicated residents would be facing a 4.7 per cent tax increase. The $150,000 from the elimination of the clerk position and the public works restructuring helped to reduce the tax increase to 2.7 per cent. “Council is always mindful of service levels and how they are delivered, but doesn’t involve itself directly in personnel matters, with the exception of Administration,” commented Mayor Marty Bootsma on the cuts and how they might impact municipal service levels. “Council determines policy and direction, and it is up to administration to determine the best course to meet those objectives.”