OSOYOOS TIMES-October 20, 2010

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

The Town of Osoyoos has listed “slow economic growth, increasing demands for services for residents, the downloading of service responsibilities from other levels of government, the need to replace some Osoyoos facilities, and the requirements of being an official B.C. resort municipality” as the reasons behind a pending review of the Town’s operations and structures.
Osoyoos council ordered an independent evaluation of the Town’s operations on Sept. 20 and a request-for-proposals process seeking submissions from companies or consultants interested in carrying out the review closed on Oct. 15.
The Town has received four proposals from consultants interesting in conducting the review and council will choose the reviewing organization in November.
At the time council ordered the review, Mayor Stu Wells said such an evaluation of the Town’s administrative structure and functions had not been carried out since 1992.
The City of Penticton and the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) carried out similar reviews earlier this year which resulted in layoffs within the administrations of both governments.
Wells has said layoffs aren’t in the cards for the Town of Osoyoos, but a media release regarding council’s decision to order the review states that the organization that carries out the evaluation will be considering “the best organizational structure and staffing level for the Town administration.”
Currently, the Town has a total of 36 full-time employees, eight part-time employees and nine seasonal employees.
This year, the Town will pay out $1,249,238 to its 19 salaried employees, up from $1,139,468 in 2009.
It should be noted, however, that the new community development manager position, which has a salary of $72,508.80 for 2010, did not exist last year.
The salaries the Town will pay out this year are on top of full and part-time positions where employees earn hourly wages.
One full-time Town employee earns more than $30 per hour this year, while 20 full and part-time employees earn more than $20 per hour in wages.
Five of those part-time positions, including two relief clerks and three relief recreational facilities attendants, earning wages between $27.34 and $29.71 per hour, also earn 17 per cent of their earnings in lieu of benefits.
Twelve of the Town’s part-time employees, including seven leisure students, earn between $14.46 and $17.73 per hour.
In comparison, the Town of Oliver has 29.6 employees, although unlike Osoyoos, Oliver has seven parks and recreation employees not included in that tally since they are contracted out through the RDOS.
The most recent BC Stats population estimates put Osoyoos’s population at 5,189 while Oliver’s population is estimated at 4,783.
Factors such as varying tax bases, differences in primary industries and real estate activity in a given community make comparing the staffing structures of two municipalities difficult, however; the Osoyoos Times compared Osoyoos and Oliver due to their similar sizes, reliance on tourism and proximity.
According to the B.C. Community and Rural Development Ministry, a municipal government is only required to have a corporate officer and a financial officer under the province’s Community Charter.
A municipality has the discretion to then hire as many employees as it needs or sees fit without any provincially imposed limits.
While the Town of Osoyoos’s salary payroll increased by $109,770 between 2009 and 2010, in part due to the introduction of the community development manager position, data from the Town suggests its revenues have decreased in the same time period.
As of last month, construction value from building permits issued by the Town this year totalled $2.7 million, down from the $4.7 million brought in by September, 2009.
The total amount of revenue the Town has brought in through business licences for 2010 as of this month is $43,833.33, but there are still two months left in the year.
The total revenue collected by the Town for business licences in 2009 was $45,181.42.
The Town’s operational review is expected to cost roughly $30,000 and will also focus on analyzing which Town business activities are compulsory and which are discretionary.
The third-party reviewer will also look at a staff succession plan to deal with the retirements of Town employees as well as financial planning strategies for capital and operational improvements.
The Town intends to have the review completed three months after the independent reviewer is selected and recommendations from the evaluation will be considered by council during preparations of the Town’s 2011 budget.
[email protected]