Bad timing for Hilton

It was a startling contrast of emotions for two key members of Charlottetown city council. During their final public meeting last week, veteran Mayor Clifford Lee and finance chair Melissa Hilton said their official goodbyes. Mr. Lee, who will remain in office until mayor-elect Philip Brown and his council are sworn in Dec. 6, was rewarded with a standing ovation for 15 years of service as the city’s top elected official – a record of longevity unmatched in the capital’s history. Mayor Lee did not re-offer in the civic election Nov. 5 and leaves with few regrets.

For Coun. Hilton, it was a much more painful departure. She had just announced the good news of a budget surplus of $11.2 million for 2017. The startling turnaround came just three years after the city budgeted a $3 million deficit for 2015, due largely to snow-clearing expenditures for that winter’s record snowfall. Originally, the city’s projected surplus for last year was pegged at $2.55 million.

Coun. Hilton likely experienced mixed feelings as she revealed the financial glad tidings. She wore a big smile, and deservedly so, but inwardly, she must have ruefully considered what might have been – if only that news came a month earlier. The surplus was made public eight days after she lost a tight election in Ward 6 by a mere 28 votes. Ms. Hilton led most of the night in a three-way contest which included Coun. Bob Doiron and former councillor David. W. MacDonald. When the last poll was counted, Mr. Doiron emerged on top with 588 votes to 560 for Ms. Hilton. Had she been able to point to that surplus during the campaign, it might have made a difference in the election. But that ship has sailed.

In a normal year, that surplus information would have been available months earlier. Charlottetown used to operate on a calendar year, but the new Municipal Government Act requires municipalities to operate on the same fiscal year as the province of P.E.I. – April 1 to March 31. So, for one fiscal year only, the city will have a 15-month budget. As a result, it took almost five months longer than usual to release the consolidated financial statements. In addition, the city hired new accountants and it took them longer to prepare budget documents. It was bad timing for Ms. Hilton.

Coun. Hilton leaves office with the city in a strong fiscal position. Of course, there was also some unexpected good news as well. The province wrote the city a cheque to help pay for all that snow removal and much of the $11.2 million surplus is the result of capital transfers from the federal and provincial governments under various infrastructure programs, amounting to $11.6 million.

Before the new mayor and council get too many grand ideas about how to spend the surplus, the money is already committed. And the city still has to grapple with a net debt of $98 million.

Ms. Hilton’s advice to the incoming council is sound – remain fiscally responsible. Next year there might be much larger challenges for mayor-elect Brown and his new finance chair to address.