OLDS — Health-care initiatives and events or programs deemed to be a benefit to the community are among some categories that could receive funding under a Mountain View Power (MVP) policy approved by council.
Mountain View Power used to be a wing of the defunct Olds Institute. It’s now owned by the town through O-NET.
It sells natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses in Olds and surrounding areas on behalf of UtilityNET, a Calgary based energy retailer.
The policy, approved during a July 10 council meeting, says MVP " will invest its profits back into the community to build a stronger and more vibrant town and region.”
It also says that each year, council will approve a budget for MVP as part of the town's operating budget.
The policy also says that prudential obligations will be given priority when budgeting.
Prudential obligations are the charges the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) charges MVP for each subscriber it enrols. This charge is usually $100 per customer. MVP must pay that to the province as a security deposit. It's a one-time, refundable amount.
"The MVP Policy provides a framework on how the town will spend the profit generated from MVP subscribers. The town is committed to investing 100 per cent of these profits into community programs, events, and projects and council wants to do this in the most transparent way possible, to both be accountable to MVP customers but also to demonstrate the value MVP provides to Olds and area," the town's chief administrative officer Brent Williams wrote in an email.
Under the MVP policy, funding for health care initiatives in Olds and area will be eligible for funding.
The policy also says that sponsorships for programs and events are eligible for funding if they offer “direct economic benefit to the town of Olds.”
Events and programs that don’t have a direct economic impact but are managed by the town will also be eligible for funding.
Decisions on funding requests outside the scope provided in the policy will be made at the discretion of town council.
A reserve account will be created and operating surpluses will be transferred to it on a yearly basis. At council’s discretion, that reserve can be dipped into to fund requests outside the annual operating budget.
Williams is authorized to carry out the policy and any “associated procedures or processes within this policy’s parameters.”
Coun. Harvey Walsh said the portion of the policy regarding health care is too broad and that he would like to see “more parameters” around it.
“It’s such a wide open statement – could mean anything and people reading this will interpret it as anything,” he said.
Williams agreed that it is rather broad.
He said the intention of wording it that way was “not to limit it too narrowly.”
He said council can keep it in check when setting the budget by simply not funding any more than the town’s newly-created Olds Health Professionals Attraction and Retention Committee “may require.”
Coun. Darren Wilson asked if “ultimately at the end of the day, the intake would be open to any and all requests, ultimately then coming back to council to decide.”
Williams said the hope is to create a committee of MVP customers to recommend potential funding recipients but in the end, “council will have that authority.”
Wilson also wondered how out-of-scope funding will work.
“I don’t think we specifically budgeted for the catch-all and out-of-scope. So how would that work? We would borrow from other functions or re-allocate,” he asked.
Williams said that’s where the reserve comes in. Council can draw that reserve down according to the amount it deems to be appropriate.
However, if council wanted to make a certain out-of-scope request for a recurring item, Williams said that should perhaps be done via a budget amendment.
