Figure 6; Relative Growth of Department Expenses between 2011 and 2020

Individual Department Growth as a Percentage between 2011 and 2020
Figure 6 gives us better understanding of how the cost of each department grew between 2011 and 2020. For example the fastest growing department, Transportation, cost $4.7 million in 2011 and in 2020 the cost of Transportation was $8.5 million. That’s a growth of $3.8 million or 79.9% during the study period. The next highest growth area was Protective Services which cost taxpayers 12.9 million in 2011 and $16.8 million in 2020 for a net growth of $3.9 million or 29.8%. Although Protective Services grew by only 29.8% the cost of this growth to taxpayers was nearly identical to $3.8 million that Transportation grew during the study period.

In addition to Transportation and Protective Services there are two other areas whose growth exceeded the CPI growth of 18.3%.  They are Recreational and Cultural Services at 29% and Environmental Services at 24%.

One area that stands out on this chart is Planning and Development, whose expenses are on track to decline by 20% annually.  This could be a reflection of the population decline in Owen Sound that we will discuss in the next Section. Or, it could also be an example of an efficiently run department by a fiscally responsible manager.