City of Calgary releases proposed Action Plan 2015-2018 for public review

(Calgary, AB) – Today, The City of Calgary released Action Plan 2015-2018 for public review. As part of The City’s regular cycle of municipal elections and business planning, Action Plan is the proposed four-year strategic plan & budget for The City of Calgary, connecting day-to-day City operations and long-term goals within strategic direction and spending limits provided by City Council.

“Action Plan is about all the things that makes our City great: a vibrant City that grows smart, plans for its future and balances affordable taxes with delivering important services for citizens,” says Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “I invite everyone to review Action Plan in the coming weeks and let Council know what they think about our City’s plans and budgets for the next four years.”

Created to deliver on strategic Priorities set by City Council in May 2014, the proposed Action Plan represents an approximately $22 billion in capital infrastructure investment and City services. Everything The City does in 2015-2018 – new roads, recreation centres, snow clearing and other services – is included in this plan.

The proposed plan and budget, to be deliberated by Council starting November 24, includes some service enhancements and corporate-wide movement toward achieving Council’s Priorities. “The proposed Action Plan shows that The City of Calgary will continue to provide over 100 different lines of service within the spending limits set by Council,” says Action Plan manager Sarah Woodgate. “In order to maintain services in the face of population growth and inflation, City departments have found significant efficiencies over the next four years, totalling nearly $50 million.”

Highlights over the next four-years include the proposed actions:

Launch of the Green Line Transitway and introduction of 4-car CTrain service, as well as modest increases to Transit and Access Calgary hours.
Advance technology to improve citizen ebusiness, including Open Data, Calgary.ca and 311.
Continued investments in flood resilient infrastructure and flood recovery.
Replace two City bridges as well as several major road reconstructions and construction of three interchanges.
Develop resilience and emergency response capacity, including new fire stations, an upgraded 911 system, new Fire, Police and Bylaw officers.
Build four new Recreation Centres and a new Central Library.
Renew community public space & facilities, including upgrades to established parks, recreation athletic parks, and established area pools.
Implement the Community Affordable Housing Strategy and advance the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative, 10-year Economic Strategy, and Arts Development Strategy.
Improve the planning approval process; implement stakeholder advisory groups.
Implement residential Green Cart program, multi-family recycling and industrial, commercial and institutional waste diversion strategy.
Expand snow and ice control operations to include sidewalks, walkways and bikeways.
Increased performance measures and benchmarking across The Corporation, Business Tax consolidation, exploration of alternative funding sources, and City Charter negotiations.
A Leadership Contract with City Council to ensure individual responsibility and collective accountability through all areas of The Corporation.

“The City is currently in good financial shape, with prudent fiscal practices and good liquidity in its reserves,” says City Chief Financial Officer Eric Sawyer. “Calgary has led the country through the economic recovery and property taxes remain one of the lowest among 20 Canadian municipalities.” As well, The City continues to achieve a high credit rating of AA+, which is among the best for Canadian municipalities. As a complement to this, there are increased benchmarking and performance measures for all areas of The City, which provides stronger reporting and accountability to both Council and citizens.

The Action Plan process launched last March with a broad-reaching citizen engagement campaign. Informed by engagement results, as well as other inputs like major economic and demographic trends, City finances and legislative obligations, Calgary City Council drafted and approved its Priorities for 2015-2018 on May 5, 2014. Over the summer of 2014, City staff created plans and budgets in response to Council’s Priorities within spending limits identified by Council. The result, Action Plan 2015-2018, identifies how The City will deliver 44 of Council’s strategic actions over four years.

Visit calgary.ca/actionplan to see the full plan, as well as City performance measures, benchmarking, citizen engagement, budgets and detailed Council Priorities.

Council will consider the plan for approval during deliberations beginning November 24, 2014. Citizens have an opportunity to share their feedback with City Council before deliberations begin in the following ways:

Comment online at calgary.ca/actionplan
Sign up to present to Council in-person during the public hearings until November 20
Submit written material or presentations for Council’s consideration to The City Clerk’s Office by November 13.
As well, comment cards and complete Action Plan documents are available at every Calgary Public Library branch from November 4-19.
Check calgary.ca/actionplan or contact 311 for more information.

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