Financial leadership in the city of Winnipeg.

• Author: Stephens, Gail
• Position: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The city of Winnipeg is facing the same challenges as many other North American cities as it approaches the new millennium. Citizens and political leaders want a government administration that is more accountable, affordable, and responsive. They want concrete results in order to know their government is doing the "right things right" - and that it will continue to do so as it moves into the 21st century.

Winnipeg, like governments everywhere, is being challenged to maintain or improve services while it contains or reduces costs. The community needs are changing, and the gap between income and expenses is widening. Issues are becoming more complex, and people want better solutions. They want to see that their government understands their needs, can seize the opportunities, and show true financial leadership. Citizens want results and they especially want to know that their public funds are being spent wisely.

To address these concerns, the city of Winnipeg is reinventing financial leadership in a very unique way. It is developing a comprehensive planning framework to better link its organization from top to bottom. It is tuning in to citizens' expectations, setting council priorities for meeting them, and developing a corporate plan to ensure these priorities are implemented throughout the organization. The city also is developing a service-based corporate budget to ensure its services and costs are congruent with its priorities. For the first time in city government, departments will develop business plans so their work and services also align with citizens' priorities. At the same time, the city is having departments look at alternative ways for delivering services, and identifying all of its services and costs to ensure that they fit into the overall plan.

Fiscal Leadership

Fiscal leadership means managing an organization's financial resources in order to carry out its vision, mission, and objectives in the context of its values. Financial resources are a critical input, but there are some risks in public fiscal management. One is that it is hard to determine the right level of service required. There is also a high degree of public perception infused in what constitutes value. Performance measures are rarely in place to determine whether the service and its delivery are right for the community, and most governments have been fixed on financial inputs.

To be effective, fiscal leadership must be part of a much larger planning, management, and performance framework. It is not an end in itself, but one means to effective governance. It must occur before, during, and after organizational planning and be integrated with all operational choices as well as decisions.

While it is important to know how much of the taxpayer's dollar is being spent on a service, it is far more critical to determine what is prioritized by the public before resources are allocated. To show true financial leadership, a government must ask:

* What does the citizen want?

* How can that service be delivered?

* What measures can determine success in delivering that service?

* How can the government afford this service?

If these questions are not asked, fiscal leadership becomes a hollow exercise, reporting only after-the-fact financial realities and implications. Thus, sound fiscal leadership is an integral part of the strategic plan developed in consultation with the public and the city council to direct the administration. To achieve effective fiscal leadership, a city must focus on being an effective and accountable government, and that is what the city of Winnipeg is doing within the context of its new corporate planning framework.

The City's Strategy

The city of Winnipeg is developing a framework to identify and implement the community's priorities, and also exercise its financial leadership in carrying those out. There are six components to the framework. Plan Winnipeg reflects citizens' needs and expectations. The Priorities Plan is council's agenda for meeting those needs. And the Corporate Plan contains the administration's goals and timelines for meeting the Priorities Plan. The Corporate Budget aligns services and costs according to priorities, and the Business Plans are the departments' plans for meeting those goals and priorities. Alternative Service Delivery helps the city look at alternative means for delivering service, and the Management Reference Model aids in defining and costing services. Overall, this framework is helping Winnipeg answer these questions:

* What are the community's needs? What are its priorities?

* What services does the city provide to meet the community's priority needs?

* What resources are required to provide services, and how much do they cost?

* How efficient are the city's service delivery processes?

* Who are the city services' customers?

* What do they value about the services?

* How effectively does the city deliver that value?

* Is there a proportional relationship between the value of a service and its cost?

* Who is accountable for each service's efficiency, effectiveness, and performance?

Ultimately, the city is working to connect its long-term...