Financial Policy Framework

The City is committed to maintaining and improving upon its stable financial position to the benefit of its residents so that future generations can enjoy the same level of financial stability and prosperity as its current citizens.

In 2019, the City took time to reflect and to develop guiding financial principles, policies and strategies for each of the financial mechanisms available to it. The City must assure itself and the public that it is using all of its varied financial resources as efficiently and effectively as possible. Financial policies based on Council-approved guiding principles will give the City an improved ability to live within the City’s means and determine what it can and cannot afford to do given new present and future realities.

This suite of ten financial policies have been designed and structured to develop principles that guide, support, and respect the direction of the community so that taxpayers can benefit from stable, equitable and affordable property taxation while at the same time providing high-quality services.

Financial management policy statements for ten key areas that influence the sustainable financing of the City’s operations and infrastructure assets were developed. The policies are intended to work together cohesively to guide financial planning and decision- making. By their very nature, they are interlinked. Actions taken following the guiding principles of each policy will affect most, if not all, the other nine policies.

The symbol of gears working together captures the concept of how these policies work together and affect each other. This is an important concept as changes made in one policy have consequences in the others. This document puts all financial policies into one document for ease of administration and to ensure that the relationships between policies are maintained.

This Financial Framework will provide clarity to Council, staff and the community as to how decisions are made concerning the sustainable financing of City services and infrastructure.

The policy areas included are:

• Taxation
• Peace River Agreement
• Utility Fees
• Annual Budget
• User Fees
• Reserves
• Service Agreement and Gaming Revenue
• Debt
• Grants
• Permissive Tax Exemptions