Budget and Business Plan

Budget and 2021 2022 Business Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS Organizational Chart & Map Executive Summary Introduction A Discussion & Analysis B BUDGET AND BUSINESS PLANS PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES: Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency C Halifax Regional Police & RCMP D PUBLIC SERVICES: Halifax Transit E Halifax Public Libraries F Corporate Customer Service G Parks & Recreation H Planning & Development I Transportation and Public Works J GOVERNANCE AND SUPPORT SERVICES: Office of the Auditor General K Chief Administrative Office L Finance, Asset Management & ICT M Human Resources N Legal & Legislative Services O FISCAL SERVICES P RESERVES Q GLOSSARY R APPENDICES S HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY CITIZENS OF HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY REGIONAL COUNCIL OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OFFICE OF THE MAYOR COUNCILLOR’S SUPPORT OFFICE OF DIVERSITY & OFFICE OF THE CAO OFFICE INCLUSION/ANSAIO BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS GOVERNMENT RELATIONS & EXTERNAL AFFAIRS FINANCE, HALIFAX LEGAL & CORPORATE TRANSPORTATION HALIFAX ASSET HUMAN PLANNING & PARKS & HALIFAX REGIONAL LEGISLATIVE & CUSTOMER & REGIONAL MANAGEMENT RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT RECREATION TRANSIT FIRE & SERVICES SERVICES PUBLIC WORKS POLICE & ICT EMERGENCY Fiscal Policy Litigation Customer Contact Employee Relations Business Parks Transit Project Deputy Chief, Executive & Planning • Centres • Services • Operations Planning & Operations Officer • Solicitor Services • Organizational • Program • Design • • Financial • Corporate Fleet Development, Regional Support Bus • Deputy Chief, Deputy Chief Reporting Prosecutions • Health & Wellness Planning Services Maintenance Road Support & • • • Corporate Facility • • • • Operations & Logistics Patrol Procurement Risk & Design Total Recreation Planning & • • • Current Construction Insurance Services & Construction Rewards Programming Scheduling • Deputy Chief, Criminal • Planning Treasurer • • • • Traffic Performance Investigations • Clerk's Office • Municipal Facilities Infrastructure Strategic Resource Management & Safety Corporate Maintenance Planning & Design Support & • • Administration Planning Planning • & Operation • Development Solid Waste Division Chief, • • Enterprise Buildings & Resources Emergency Corporate Compliance Technical • Management Asset Communications Services Parking Management • • • Organizational Cogswell Capital Budget • Performance Redevelopment Real Estate Excellence Project • • Grants Corporate Safety • ICT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the 2021/22 budget, Regional Council has considered economic growth in concert with the service and tax pressures faced by a growing municipality. Due to the demands of a relatively rapidly growing population, for the first time the Operating Budget is just over $1 Billion. Operating and capital budgets include improved municipal services with modest average tax bill increases that consider the short-term impacts of the pandemic. Unlike most of North America, the spread of Covid-19 in Nova Scotia has been substantially less, making Halifax one of the safest cities in North America. The full economic implications of the pandemic are not yet KEY HIGHLIGHTS known, but the Halifax region is well-positioned to recover strongly from the pandemic. The Operating Budget is $1B and the Capital Budget is $177.9M. Debt is at In 2021/22, the Operating Budget has been approved at $1 Billion. $241.2M with debt charges Included in this are $173.8M of Provincial mandated costs and $833M of comprising only 4.7% of total municipal expenditures. Ongoing pressures include compensation, expenditures. Net Reserve Balances increases to capital spending and inflationary pressures on goods, are estimated to be a healthy services and contracts. Savings were achieved in fuel costs, debt $311.7M. servicing costs and internal efficiencies. While commercial assessment growth is weak, residential assessment, particularly apartments, are The Average Residential and growing robustly. Deed Transfer Tax revenues have increased Commercial Tax Bills will rise 1.0%, significantly, due to unprecedented housing activity. below the anticipated NS CPI of 1.6%. Per the direction of Regional Council, average residential and commercial tax bills will rise modestly: The Halifax regional economy is The average residential tax bill will increase by 1.0 per cent, in line comparatively resilient with capital with prior-year changes and below forecasted inflation. projects and federal and provincial Pandemic effects to be incorporated into commercial property stimuli shielding it from more severe values for the 2022/23 fiscal year. economic consequences. The Gross Capital Budget for 2021/22 is $177.9M, an increase of $28.1M The municipality remains in a sound from 2020/21. Included in the Capital Budget are funds for both asset fiscal position with flexibility to borrow renewal and growth projects. Substantial resources are being directed to for long-term initiatives, strong the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), HaliFACT, Transit’s Moving Forward reserve balances and competitive tax Together Plan (MFTP), and other transit assets, roads and street levels. infrastructure and recreation related assets. Total debt levels for 2021/22 will be $241.2M. Debt levels peaked in 1998-99 at nearly $350M, a reduction of over $100M. This change represents an average decline in debt of 1.6 per cent per year since 1999. In 2021/22 principal and interest payments supported through property tax total 4.7per cent of Expenditures, well below the 15 per cent Provincial indicator of sound fiscal health. Aggregate reserve balances are budgeted to be $311.7M. Under the Fiscal Sustainability Strategy, work is underway to rationalize and update reserve business cases. There is the opportunity to combine or redefine reserves where they can be tied more closely to the municipality’s objectives. The municipality (HRM) remains in a healthy net fiscal position and has weathered the pandemic better than forecast, due to unprecedented federal and provincial support to households and businesses, industry composition and on-going public investment projects. Looking to the future, HRM will have both the required flexibility and resiliency to thrive amid post-pandemic uncertainties. INTRODUCTION TO HALIFAX PUBLIC SERVICES THAT SUPPORT A DYNAMIC AND INCLUSIVE REGION The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is the thriving economic hub of Canada’s East Coast. For more than a decade, the municipality has been evolving its fiscal discipline and capacity to deliver quality public services and form a solid foundation for future prosperity. The approach continues to deliver value for citizens and business. In the latest budget engagement survey (2020), 72 per cent of respondents are at least satisfied with the delivery of all the services provided by the municipality. Meanwhile, 85 per cent of the most recent published Business Confidence Survey respondents noted that optimism is returning with COVID-19 impacts in Nova Scotia comparatively muted in contrast to other parts of Canada and North America. OVERVIEW OF HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY The Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax) is Nova Scotia’s largest and most diverse municipality, with approximately 47 per cent of the provincial population residing within it and over 52 per cent of provincial GDP1. The region has significant suburban and rural areas, with a concentrated urban mix, and an estimated population of over 450,000 according to Canmac Economics. The Halifax Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has experienced population growth well above its historical trend in the last 5 years, even with the global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The land area of the municipality is Halifax City Hall similar to that of Prince Edward Island (PEI) and is dotted with coastline, islands and lakes. As the largest city east of Montreal, Halifax serves as the regional center for nearly three million people2. This allows the municipality to prosper among stronger competitors and boast many attributes typical of much larger cities. Halifax has six degree-granting institutions and three community college campuses, leading health centers, Canada’s seventh busiest airport, one of its most prominent container ports and a wide variety of 1 Source: Canmac Economics, Halifax Region Economic Outlook- December 2020 Update 2 Source: as calculated using Statistics Canada, Census, 2016. Introduction A1 cultural, educational, scientific, financial services and defence establishments. Despite its comparatively modest population, Halifax is considered one of Canada’s “hub” cities. The Mi’kmaq First Nations were the original people to inhabit the Halifax region and remains the predominant Indigenous group in Nova Scotia. The Mi’kmaq have existed here for thousands of years prior to contact with settlers. Today the Mi’kmaw Nation have thirteen First Nations with three located in the Halifax Regional Municipality (Acadia, Sipekne’katik, Millbrook). The Indigenous population has been increasing inclined to move to Halifax/Kjipuktuk urban area for school and employment opportunities. The Mi’kmaw Friendship center is the focal point for the urban indigenous community offering programming, social supports and community events & gatherings in Halifax. The French became the first European settlers briefly in the 1720s before the British, attracted by Halifax’s large, ice-free harbour, landed in 1749. Nine years later in 1758, an election for the Nova Scotia Legislature took place in the town of Halifax, a forerunner to the later emergence of democratically

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