As of a 2024 tally, the Town of Rocky Mountain House delivers 369 services and programs at service level.
That number comes from the town’s recently published Service Level Review document which divides each service into one of three categories: core, discretionary and supplemental.
Currently, 61 per cent of all town services meet the core service definition. 37 percent meet the criteria to be discretionary, while another 2 per cent is considered supplementary.
Core services are those that the town is given authority to administer, and and is mandated by the province to provide.
Those include but aren’t limited to governance, assessments and tax collection, road maintenance, water and wastewater treatment and distribution, emergency management and finance.
Discretionary services are those that are important services, but are not mandatory for a municipality to provide.
Those include but aren’t limited to libraries, community halls, cemeteries and recreation facilities and programs.
Supplemental services are services that support other government programs.
Those include but aren’t limited to health services support, highway right-of-way grass cutting, and grants to non-profits.
Categorizing each service is based on a matrix of five attributes:
- The Town’s legal obligation to provide that service.
- The reliance on the town to provide that service.
- The portion of the community served.
- The year-over-year change in demand.
- The cost recovery of each service
Over 130 services saw increases in demand over the past year, and as Acting Mayor Len Phillips says, the increase in demand presents challenges and opportunities for town council.
He points to increased demand in services like development permits and aquatic centre rentals, which increase revenue to help offset the cost incurred by other programs.
Phillips says council added some new programs in the past year such as the Greenfield Tax Incentive bylaw, which adds some costs to the budget.
The purpose of the report is, in part, to find cost savings if a service is reduced or provided differently; cost increases if a higher level of service is desired; or cost balancing
by decreasing one service to increase another.
The report will be used to determine priorities during the town’s upcoming budgeting process.
The report leads up to budget deliberations scheduled Nov. 27-28. Phillips says during that time, council will be discussing how it can “pinch pennies” to best serve the needs of Rocky residents.
You can see all 369 services and their attribute levels here.
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