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| 2010 Annual Report - 4.40 MB (P.93) |
Don Quixote Note: In the City Source Ad that appeared in Sunday's Morning Star there was a part that read "In terms of staffing levels for services, our benchmark communities within B.C. stand at an average of 41%, compared to Vernon, whose staffing levels are well below the average at 30%, something to be proud of." The corrections were made to the municipal report (P.93) and these updated figures show that Vernon's average is 30.81% and the benchmark communities average is an almost identical 30.82%.
Comparing communities to each other with no guarantee that their Salaries and benefits figures are accounted for in the same way in each community is a mugs game. Vernon's figures are for net salaries & benefits (p.83) and do not include salaries that are recovered from NORD for Parks, Recreation & Water Functions. (These costs may be included in the other municipalities or they may not ?)
However the Trend within the City of Vernon over a period of time which appears at the bottom of the above table is useful in detecting possible problem areas. For example Vernon's Average for the salary and benefits as a percentage of total expenditures shows an increase from the 2006 levels of 24.49% to its 2010 level of 30.81%.
The trend for Net Salaries as a %age of taxation has risen from 63.63% in 2006 to its current level of 77.41% in 2010.
1 comment:
Definitely something to be proud of, that taxpayers foot the bill for the City's propaganda machine, which apparently has little concern for accuracy.
So the City's Tourism and Ec Dev is staffed by fewer humans yet costs 30% more to operate than NORD's? Interesting.
DQ has pointed out an alarming and unsustainable salary trend: Salaries & Benefits as a percentage of Total Expenditures, and Net Salaries as a percentage of Taxation.
Page 80 of the Annual Report shows that PER CAPITA total expenses went up from $1,226 in 2006, to $1,476 in 2010, or up 20% since 2006.
Has the population of Vernon grown 20% since 2006? Please, don't tell me that's due to the Blue Jay subdivision (which was taken over by the City how many years ago?) nor the empty lots and vacancies at the Rise, Turtle Mountain, etc.
Total CPI increases over that same time frame account for only 8.6%.
Can someone, preferably the Mayor as the ultimate executive in charge, please tell us why this local government costs have increased, well beyond its means and population?
Or is the answer too obvious and politically challenging - staffing increases for police, bylaw and firefighters?
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