Dauphin is ranked close to the top of the recently released Manitoba Municipal Spending Watch report.
The report, from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, put Dauphin in 2nd place behind Morden.
The CFIB says not all services provided by communities are essential and governments are sometimes willing to spend taxpayers’ dollars without assurances that they are getting good value for what they pay.
Across the province, one thing they’ve noticed is that municipalities spend a lot on labour. In most communities, it’s been out of control, but according to Jonathan Alward, the Director of Provincial Affairs for Manitoba, Dauphin has been doing very well with labour costs.
“Over the last eight years from 2008 to 2015 there change in real operating spending per capita was a two per cent increase. I think that was the lowest among all cities and towns. What we’ve seen in Dauphin is that spending has actually gone down significantly since 2010 (by one per cent). At the same time, population growth has actually been on the decline as well. Over that time the population has declined by three per cent, but the city has recognized that and doing things to curb real operating spending growth.”
The city’s operating spending growth beyond the benchmark set out by the CFIB has cost Dauphin residents a combined $2.9 million over eight years. That adds up to around $371 of unnecessary spending for each of Dauphin’s 7,918 residents.
“Make no mistake. Unsustainable spending can lead to higher taxes. But in Dauphin, the council has done a great job at controlling that these last few years. Certainly, it’s something commendable.”
Alward continues, “We’re releasing the report right now because unsustainable spending has huge consequences. We estimate that over the eight years it’s been an over a billion dollar problem for Manitoba’s municipalities.”
Alward explained they released the report before the upcoming municipal elections taking place across the province in hopes that sustainable spending becomes a priority for candidates running for a position on Dauphin’s city council.
“So in a nutshell what we’ve seen in our Manitoba Municipal Spending Watch is that most communities have been growing spending unsustainably. We allow for a sustainable benchmark that includes population growth and inflation. Because as your communities grow, as the cost of goods gets more expensive, communities need to increase their spending. But what we want to make sure is that communities are spending sustainable long-term because taxes or maybe a reduction in how much they are investing in infrastructure are the consequences of communities spending unsustainably. “
