Five jobs eliminated at the Haut-Saint-Laurent MRC

Financial recovery at the Haut-Saint-Laurent MRC will involve eliminating five full time positions and result in yearly savings of $400 000. This was revealed by Louise Lebrun MRC Prefect during a regular meeting of the Council of Mayors on Wednesday evening at the head office on rue King in Huntingdon. The employees affected by these cuts are the assistant director general, a cultural activities technician, an archeologist as well as an employee in urban planning and in fire safety planning. This reorganisation will reduce the number of salaried personnel at the MRC, from 21 to 16. "It was a necessary change to achieve financial stability in the organization," confirmed the Prefect. "After an extensive assessment of the situation at the beginning of the year, it was essential to adopt a strategic plan in order to ensure continuity of good services to the municipalities and the population. We had to put a stop to the growing deficit in the MRC, estimated at $1.3 million on December 31, 2017," noted Lebrun. In addition to the five eliminated positions, the introduction of a new workforce plan includes suspending funding for archeological excavations and changes to public transportation, in particular the Taxibus. A thorough analysis of the Taxibus costs indicated that this service alone represented 31.4% of the MRC's accumulated deficit and can no longer be maintained in its current structure. "The intention is to maintain the service but by readjusting user contributions and public money while clarifying who the target clients are," specified Lebrun. As of July 1, the fee schedule will be subjected to a 100% cost increase compared to the current cost. The base amount per trip will be established at $3.45 and will then follow fluctuations in the taxi industry. "An extensive study of the sectors in question required the MRC Council and the administration to make difficult but necessary decisions," explained the Prefect. "The work to recover the MRC, which was carried out jointly with the mayors of the 13 Haut-Saint-Laurent municipalities, went much faster once the interim director general, Laurent Lampron, was hired," indicated Lebrun. During a telephone interview with the "Journal Saint-François" Laurent Lampron mentioned that a request for debt consolidation will be filed with the Quebec Government (MAMOT) with the aim to restore financial stability by July 1 and initiate discussions on a strategy plan for MRC services that are in the best interests of taxpayers. The Interim Director General plans to have completed his mandate by October. "An MRC cannot operate with a deficit and the Haut-Saint-Laurent MRC is currently functioning without a budget. We expect to adopt budget estimates for 2018 at the end of June ,"stated Lampron. Activities at the joint Municipal Court will be maintained as part of this reorganization but there may be changes to the Centre local de développement (CLD). "Work related to the CLD recovery plan will take place in the near future and the outcome will be announced at a later date," concluded Lebrun. (Translated by Cathleen Johnston)