The City set out to analyze “every service and program within the organization, including St. John’s Sports and Entertainment, Metrobus, and St. John’s Regional Fire Department, to determine which programs and services should remain and in what form, given current fiscal restraint.”

“In the first round of program review, the organization has identified the potential to reduce the operating budget by $1,491,414 in 2017 and $1,769,856 for 2018,” said Councillor Jonathan Galgay, Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Administration.

“These figures include the elimination of 4.83 Full Time Equivalents (FTE) in 2017 and a further 2.33 FTEs in 2018. This FTE number represents a combination of attrition, redundancy, reduced hours, and a decrease in the number of new hires previously budgeted.”

Other identified and targeted savings include efficiencies in spending, reductions to contractual services and supplies, revenue generation, and budgeting realignments.