County approves budgets for capital, fleet projects

$4.9M pre-approved for infrastructure, $1.37M for fleet in 2019

Paying less later was the theme as Peterborough County councillors preapproved $4.9 million for 2019 capital infrastructure projects as well as $1,372,920 for fleet purchases during a brief special council meeting Wednesday.

Staff recommended preapproval because of a trend of capital infrastructure projects going over budget because of the “protracted expanse” of time between costings and the awarding of contracts, finance director-treasurer Trena DeBruijn wrote.

This resulted in “market forces negatively impacting the contractor bids,” she stated, pointing out that road and bridge projects are particularly vulnerable to this sequence.

That’s why council was asked to establish preapproved base levels of funding in advance of the coming year’s budget.

“It is felt that tying our tendering process chronologically closer to the market factors at play when the project costing is being developed, may increase the probability that contractor tender responses will fall within engineering project costing estimates,” DeBruijn wrote.

There is an “unmistakable reality” that a base level of capital funding will happen regardless of where budget discussions may lead, she continued. “Responsible stewardship of the county’s infrastructure and compliance with existing grant funding agreements clearly indicate that a base level of capital project funding must happen.”

Preapproval will allow more time and/or financially sensitive projects to get underway while leaving a sizeable portion of the proposed capital spending open for discussion during the budget process, DeBruijn added.

“It will also allow the county to go to market ahead of the traditional municipal tender rush, thus maximizing the potential to secure better prices and quality service providers.”

The preapproval process is not new for the county – its public works has acquired vehicle replacements in that fashion so that plows can be on the road in time for the snow removal season, for example.

Councillors also authorized tendering replacement vehicles and equipment before the 2019 budget process at an estimated cost of $1,372,920 from long term planning reserves.

Staff recommended doing so

because market experts are predicting United States auto tariffs could cause the Canadian dollar to fall, pushing up prices across the board, DeBruijn wrote. A large part of the county fleet is made south of the border.

Also if Canada imposes matching tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles, she noted that Canadian consumers would face further increases, estimated to be between $5,000 to $9,000 for vehicles with an average price of $40,000.

Two tandem plow trucks, two pickup trucks for engineering and design and one pickup truck for roads were approved for public works, along with three ambulances and one bariatric ambulances with power stretchers for County/City Paramedics.

Single vehicles each were also approved for the emergency management, information technology and facilities departments.

Wednesday’s decisions related to the 2019 budget follows the addition of three special budget meetings added to the schedule in late June intended to give council and staff more time dedicated solely to budget review.