Horizons
... a process to refocus and realign City services and programs based upon what the community values and supports
- achieving outcomes or buying results,
- that citizens value most,
- at a price citizens are willing to pay
Using the six Strategic Commitments as the guiding framework, the City of Vancouver has embarked on Horizons, a collaborative approach to meeting budget challenges and creating a more efficient organization. The process is aimed at providing opportunities for discussion and input that will help inform the future decisions of the City Manager and City Council. Scroll down to read more.
Questions? Please write to us at Horizons@cityofvancouver.us.
City Council met in a day-long retreat to establish goals for 2012. Based on the City’s strategic plan and Council discussion throughout last year, City Manager Eric Holmes developed a list of more than a dozen potential goals for the Council to consider.
The City Council identified the top eight goals for the organization to pursue for the balance of 2012, aligned with each of the six strategic commitments. The priority goals for 2012 established by Council are:
- Address the future of fire and EMS service and emergency preparedness facilities in Vancouver.
- Establish financial policies to help guide the City to fiscal sustainability.
- Establish a strategic plan for the future of policing in the City.
- Address the future of Parks and Recreation services in Vancouver.
- Represent and advocate for the community’s interests in the CRC project leading up to a planned 2013 start date.
- Address the City’s long-term transportation infrastructure needs.
- Evolve the City’s community and economic development functions to better achieve planning and prosperity goals.
- Develop and deploy a strategic communication policy and plan.
The Vancouver City Council met in a full day retreat on Friday, February 11, 2011. Following a recap of his first 90 days as City Manager, Eric Holmes reviewed the 2011-12 Baseline Services using the city’s Strategic Plan policy framework. This framework was originally developed to ensure the city will live within its current means; use community priorities to inform how resources are allocated; preserve its existing assets and continue with restructuring to create a more efficient, streamlined organization.
Staff provided an overview of the updated 2011-2016 Forecast, after which Council discussed potential revenue and governance opportunities and reviewed several major initiatives expected to come before them over the next biennium.
The day ended with a review of the 2011 Work Program and a look to the future.
Links to a complete version of the February 11 Retreat presentation and supporting documents can be found below.
The Vancouver City Council met in a three-hour retreat on Monday, July 12, 2010. During the workshop, City Manager Pat McDonnell, along with several members of his Management Leadership Team, including directors and Police and Fire chiefs, presented the preliminary 2011-2012 budget package, with steps to address the forecast $10 million deficit. The presented package follows directives from earlier City Council retreats to: live within the city's current means, use community priorities to inform how resources are allocated, make strategic reductions with the long-term in mind; preserve the city's existing assets; and continue with restructuring to create a more efficient, streamlined organization.
Under McDonnell's direction, the city has already made major strides in streamlining and consolidating facilities, reducing the forecast deficit to $7.8 million. The city is also attempting to engage labor and employee groups in cutting health care costs citywide, which, if successful, would save another $1.1 million, equal to about 11-16 FTEs, and lower the 2011-12 shortfall to approximately $6.7 million. Whatever the remaining shortfall is, it will ultimately require cuts in personnel and programs in the city's General, Street and Fire funds, which include police, fire, transportation, parks and recreation, and other services.
The city continues to pursue strategic measures to address impacts to programs. Following a discussion of both the requirements and potential benefits, the City Council supported efforts to seek U.S. Justice Department approval to modify the CHRP (COPS) hiring grant that the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) received last September. If successful, those funds would prevent the layoff of up to 10 VPD line personnel.
For illustration purposes only, presentations below frequently show examples of possible results or impacts on programs, services, projects and staff. They do not represent decisions, but rather were provided as a platform to build common understanding and as a framework for discussion. No formal actions or decisions have taken place at these retreats.
The Vancouver City Council met May 26, for a fourth in a series of retreats on the financial challenges for 2011 and beyond. The first portion of Friday’s retreat focused on community views received during the extensive Horizons public engagement process. The input from this process is meant to inform, not determine, MLT Horizons recommendations, City Manager decisions and City Council policy guidance.
The remainder of Friday’s retreat was dedicated to discussions about a variety of approaches to addressing the deficit for 2011-12 and beyond. To provide direction, the Council retreat included review of a couple of reduction alternatives. Examples of the impact on programs and services were provided for illustration purposes only. No formal action was taken. Council input during the retreat indicated preliminary interest in strategic, programmatic targeted reductions with consideration of Safe and Prepared Community and continued consolidations, streamlining and refocusing of the entire organization. Again, no decisions were made. The presentations can be viewed here:
Horizons Community Feedback Part 1 - City Council Retreat, May 21, 2010 (PDF)
Horizons Community Feedback Part II - City Council Retreat, May 21, 2010 (PDF)
2011 and Beyond - City Council Retreat, May 21, 2010 (PDF)
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Overview of Regional Financing Tools and Strategies for Parks and Recreation Purposes (PDF)
Overview of Regional Financing Tools and Strategies for Transportation Benefit District (TBD) (PDF)
Overview of Capital Budget, Function and Examples/Scenarios for Discussion (PDF)
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2011 and Beyond - City Council Retreat, April 28, 2010 (PDF)
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Overview of City of Vancouver Financials, Council Retreat, March 26, 2010 (PDF)
Horizons General Overview, Council Retreat, March 26, 2010 (PDF)
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An analysis of the Horizons engagement effort can be found above under the May 21 Council Retreat presentations. Want more information? Here are some of the activities that made up the formal Horizons engagement process to date:
More than 1,000 people participated in the online version of the City of Vancouver’s 2010 Community Survey. The survey asked about satisfaction with city services and quality of life, just as the statistically valid, biennial Community Survey did. In addition, we sought your views to help address budget issues. If you were one of those who took the 10-15 minutes to take the survey and share your opinions, we'd like to say thanks!
Focus Groups:
During April and May, eight Focus Groups took place across the city. Randomly selected members of the community were called and asked to help by spending 1½ hours helping us drill down on survey answers to better understand your values and priorities.
Key Stakeholder Group:
Representatives of key community stakeholder groups attended a Horizons discussion meeting on Saturday, May 8, at Clark College’s East Campus. Leaders from neighborhood associations, health, education, social services, business, Labor Roundtable, the diverse community and more were invited to take part. The large group portion of that meeting was taped and also can be seen on CVTV here.
Community Meeting, Community Views:
Were you one of the first to take part in a simultaneous virtual and real community meeting, with interactive polling and near instant results? The Tuesday, May 11 Community Viewpoints offered an evening session for residents to offer opinions about your values and priorities for the City of Vancouver. The event took place at the Water Resources Education Center, 4600 SE Columbia Way, and was televised live on CVTV Channel 23. While it's too late to be part of the interactive polling, you can view the taped broadcast of the meeting here.
About Horizons
Since 2001, the City of Vancouver has been dealing with an ongoing structural deficit in its General, Street and Fire fund, addressing a total of more than $35 million in shortfalls by cutting staff and service levels, improving efficiency, and increasing fees and taxes. The recent deep recession has only made the situation worse, and the financial challenges continue. With no changes, the city’s operating costs are forecast to exceed operating revenues by an estimated $10 million in 2011, growing to an annual deficit of more than $18 million by 2016. We have to live within our means. Cutting support services and improving efficiency alone will not be enough. Strong measures must be taken in all service areas in order to balance the budget. How do we best allocate scarce resources to meet highest priority community needs? To answer this question, the City has developed Horizons.
The city's Horizons process seeks to engage residents and businesses by offering a variety of opportunities to get information and offer input on priorities for facing the challenges ahead. The information received will be used to help inform the City Manager and City Council as they consider future options. Tools being used to help with this process include, but are not limited to:
- Department business plans and performance measure snapshots
- Budget Information and Forecasts
- City of Vancouver 2008 Strategic Plan
- Community Engagement and Input Process
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