The City of Red Deer has taken a step toward strengthening its long-term financial sustainability with the presentation of a financial roadmap to city council on Monday.
Developed in partnership with KPMG, the roadmap provides a detailed assessment of the city’s financial maturity and outlines a path forward to enhance financial leadership, governance and accountability. The work responds to council’s 2024 direction to develop a financial management and governance maturity plan and aligns with its 2025 priority of financial stewardship.
The report identifies key areas for improvement across financial systems, policies and practices. It also includes a 20-year budget scenario modelling tool to support future planning and long-range decision-making.
“The financial roadmap provides a strong foundation for Red Deer’s financial future,” said Tricia Hercina, general manager of finance. “It gives us a clear picture of where we are today and, even more importantly, a strategic direction for where we need to go. We’re focused on building a more transparent, collaborative and data-informed financial function that can support council and the community long into the future.”
The roadmap assessed several key dimensions of the city’s financial operations, identifying strengths and opportunities for improvement in areas such as financial policies, reporting, systems integration and organizational structure.
Many of the report’s recommendations are already in progress. The city has:
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Initiated updates to financial policies, including those for off-site levies and utilities, with reserve-related work identified as a priority for the coming year.
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Launched service review efforts through Community Compass and zero-based budgeting.
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Begun recruitment for a permanent chief financial officer, with interim leadership in place.
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Prepared to implement enterprise performance management (EPM) budgeting software for the 2026 budget; and
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Initiated a full review of the 10-year capital plan, with a report coming to council in August.
Quarterly updates on implementation progress will be provided to the audit committee to ensure transparency and accountability.
“This is a long-term journey, not a one-time report,” said Hercina. “We’re committed to strengthening the financial foundation of our entire organization. The roadmap gives us a shared direction for how to do that in a more integrated, transparent and forward-looking way.”
For more information, see the attached Financial Roadmap FAQ (pdf) and visit www.reddeer.ca/budget.
** With information from the City of Red Deer.
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