News Release
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Halifax Regional Municipality has received a number of media inquiries today asking for
a response to the findings of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy Report analysing HRM's financial performance.
Unfortunately, there was no opportunity to read the report in detail prior to its release, but HRM staff will be reviewing the report over the next number of weeks.
In the meantime, the following is a general statement regarding the Frontier Centre Report by Chief Administrative Officer Dan English.
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HRM looks forward to reading the complete report of the Frontier Centre regarding the municipality's financial position. I am sure it will prove to be interesting and, as is our practice, we will review it and consider any relevant findings when we begin our Business Planning and Budget process for the coming year.
Municipal responsibilities vary significantly from Province to Province, so a direct comparison of costs without sufficient analysis really is not reliable. We understand from media reports and an initial scan of the executive summary contains both positive and negative points. It is fair to note that it was based on 2005 information and many things have continued to improve since then.
Recently, HRM had an independent review of its financial performance and credit worthiness and was pleased to see an increase in its rating by Standard and Poor's from A stable to A positive. The increase was based on strong operating results and a continuing strong economic performance. That report noted an increase in debt burden due to Harbour Solutions, but concluded that as much of that work has been completed, "after capital-spending results should improve" in 2007 and 2008 and that debt has started to trend downward.
The Standard and Poor's report provides Council with valuable information on areas where we need to continue our improvement. It may be that this new report has identified similar areas, including our efforts to reduce overall debt. If so, we would agree.
Much of the summary information we received today is consistent with information provided to Halifax Regional Council and the citizens of HRM over the last number of years; for example:
• we know that HRM's revenue from other levels of government is below the national average - in fact, we have the highest reliance on tax revenues in the country.
• we know our employment rate is tracking below the national average
• we know HRM is a low cost local government.
I think it worth noting that the report states that " it is a pity that these excellent results are not broadcast to residents with much more meaningful and informative financial and other information." Since the report was prepared on the basis of 2005 information, the Policy Centre is apparently unaware of HRM Tax Information booklet to residents last year. It contained very interesting and valuable information regarding property taxes, the services HRM provides and the monthly cost of those services to residents.
In closing, HRM's Multi-Year Financial Strategy and Debt Management Plan are just a few of the many valuable tools that our municipality uses to effectively manage our financial performance and HRM routinely benchmarks itself against other municipalities.
Thank you.
