It was a pleasure reading The Citizen's story on Monday, June 1 - "UNBC sees shortfalls in future."
President of UNBC Daniel Weeks basically laid the cards on the table and pointed out the financial difficulties that UNBC faces in the coming years, not the least of which is a continuance of falling enrolments, and therefore revenue, and huge deficits in the budgets for the next three years.
This is the type of information that the public needs to hear. Kudos to Mr. Weeks for putting out this info.
As an example of lost revenues, the university anticipates a reduction in tuition fees alone of approx. $925,000 in 2015 compared to 2014.
Weeks wonders going forward "what are the kinds of things we are going to have to do here to really streamline our operation, make sure we're efficient, we're using taxpayers money effectively and in the best interests of British Columbians."
So, problems at UNBC and it seems they are going to do what's required to solve them. We also have budget problems at CNC, and School District 57, which no doubt will mean more cuts, and school closures. The City of Quesnel is in downsizing mode because of budget problems.
So what's the problem with the City of Prince George?
While all these other government entities are experiencing budget problems, our City pretends that everything is fine, and in fact they have created a new position at city hall: director of external relations, at a salary of $160,000 per year.
This position came out of the blue and in fact the actual duties of the position have not yet been fleshed out, according to Ms. Soltis, the city manager. However, they have already decided to hire Mr. Rob van Andrichem from UNBC.
The basic outline of the job will be to help city council reconnect with stakeholders and partners, whatever that means. It will also help mould community consultation and engagement activities, such as neighbourhood meetings. This is heavy stuff.
Ms. Soltis used the Hart sewer project and the two farmers market problems as examples, of projects that can be sensitive or contentious. Hmmmm.
A salary of $160,000 per year can morph into $200,000 per year quite quickly when you factor in benefits.
So over the next five years we will pay out something in the order of $1,000,000 for a position that two months ago was not planned for.
So the question is, what the H is going on here?
We just had a huge increase in utilities plus an increase in taxes, and if you look at the city's projections for the next five years, it indicates huge increases in staffing costs, which means an increase in taxes of probably three per cent per year for the next five years.
We can no longer afford the free spending mentality of city hall. We need to get serious about controlling our costs, and if possible hold the line on taxes, and perhaps actually reduce them.
We have great expectations for our new mayor and council going forward the next four years, and they need to get serious now rather than later.
A review of the decision for this new position would be a good place to start.
Eric Allen
Prince George
