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Orangeville is at the higher end of expenses, says consultant

September 21, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

It’s hoped Orangeville’s organizational review will help the town best evolve with changing times into the future.

John Naas, a partner at Blackline Consulting, and Abdel al-Sharif, the consultant’s engagement manager, updated town council during its Sept. 11 meeting on the project’s progress.

“The intent of this review is really to make sure that the town’s organizational design and staffing is fit for purpose for future growth and to manage that,” Naas said.

The review takes into account three key areas: evaluate services and service levels, assess the sustainability of current staff resources and organizational structure, and recommend ways to manage growth and achieve greater efficiencies.

All levels of the town, from councillors to front-line staff, have been engaged in the organizational review.

“We’ve been on-site a number of times to meet with staff, to see what they do, how they do things,” Naas said.

In fact, Naas said Blackline is slightly behind in the review because of the number of staff interviews and the time spent with municipal workers on the front lines. He assured council they’re working to ensure important information is available to them when it comes time to map out next year’s municipal budget.

“We’re not going to wait until the final report to share that list of opportunities and recommendations, especially if it’s something urgent,” he said.

Collaboration and effective communication with staff is essential for a comprehensive review.

Regarding operating expenses, Naas said Orangeville is at the higher end in comparison to other municipalities.

Orangeville has a higher workforce expense than other municipalities.

And, since the pandemic, resident expectations of the town have increased.

Employee surveys were done in 2022 and again in 2023. Serious concerns about accountability among town staff decreased this year over last year.

Significant concerns about communication among municipal staff have decreased this year, but results indicate that “serious concerns” about relationship management have increased in 2023.

Regarding relationship management, serious concerns dropped incredibly this year to 3.3 per cent of respondents from 11.1 per cent in 2022. Then again, “significant concerns” about relationship management crept up from 25 per cent last year to 30.1 per cent this year.

Despite the slight changes, there’s a consistency in the surveys, he said.

“This is a positive message overall,” Naas said about staff feedback about the municipality.

A more detailed analysis will be included in a final report, along with prioritized recommendations toward efficiencies.

Councillor Joe Andrews said there is much to digest in the review at this stage. There are some red flags and indications of positive things in the works.

“We have great things happening here within our community,” he said. “We have great things happening here at this municipality.”

Regarding the detail about Orangeville being on the higher end of workforce expense than other municipalities, Andrews asked if that was drawn from a comparison of other similar-sized towns or all of Ontario’s municipalities.

“We’ve looked at it both ways,” Naas said.

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