First Phase of Program Review Identifies $1.7 M in Potential Savings

Following Budget 2016-18, the City introduced a new comprehensive departmental review process to analyze every service and program within the organization, including St. John’s Sports and Entertainment, Metrobus, and St. John’s Regional Fire Department, to determine which programs and services should remain and in what form, given current fiscal restraint.

Since that time and under Council’s direction, a Program Review Coordination Committee has been working with program managers and the Senior Executive Committee to undertake the review. This first round represents 23 program areas including:

• City administration departments
• Risk Management and Insurance
• Department of Financial Management

“In the first round of program review, the organization has identified the potential to reduce the operating budget by $1,491,414 in 2017 and $1,769,856 for 2018,” said Councillor Jonathan Galgay, Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Administration. “These figures include the elimination of 4.83 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) in 2017 and a further 2.33 FTEs in 2018. This FTE number represents a combination of attrition, redundancy, reduced hours, and a decrease in the number of new hires previously budgeted.”
 
“Staff whose positions are impacted by program review have been notified,” explained Councillor Galgay. “However, Council has determined that no action will be taken on any unionized positions until October, 2016, when the majority of programs have been reviewed.
 
“Union members will be able to exercise their bumping rights, and we may identify other opportunities for impacted staff members before the process is complete, so we feel this is in the best interests of both our staff and the organization to minimize disruption to the best of our ability. Management positions will be handled on a case-by-case basis, depending on the individual circumstances for each impacted person.”
 
Other identified and targeted savings include efficiencies in spending, reductions to contractual services and supplies, revenue generation and budgeting realignments.
 
Media Contact:
Kelly Maguire
Media Relations
City of St. John's
709-576-8491
kmaguire@stjohns.ca