From:!Kevin!Weidlich!!

Sent:!Monday,!August!21,!2017!2:27!PM!
To:!Nathan!Cooper!<Nathan.Cooper@assembly.ab.ca>!
Subject:!Budget!Analysis!G!CONFIDENTIAL!
!!
Nathan,!As!promised,!here!is!the!detailed!analysis!of!!our!budgetary!situation:!
!!
Current!Situation!
!!
We!have!received!a!starting!point!deficit!of!$337,000!from!the!legacy!caucuses!
(PC=$16K,!WR=$322K).!As!discussed!in!Fridays!meeting!with!the!Clerk,!this!amount!is!
indeed!carried!over!into!the!UCP!Caucus!budget.!!This!means!that!for!all!intents!and!
purposes,!we!our!starting!point!isnt!$0,!but!G$337K.!
!!
In!the!attached!spreadsheets,!(I!PDFed!them!for!ease!of!reading!on!mobile!devices)!I!
have!identified!the!deficits!as!negative!numbers!in!the!revenue!portion!of!the!
spreadsheet.!
!!
I!have!completed!4!Options.!!They!are:!
!!
Option!1!!Do!nothing!
Option!2!!Reduce!Staff!Only!
Option!3!!Transfer!funds!from!MLA!MSA!Accounts!only!
Option!4!!Combine!a!reductions!of!staff!with!transferring!MSA!Accounts.!
!!
Assumptions!Common!to!All!
^ Chief!of!Staff!Kevin!Weidlich!will!take!a!Military!Leave!of!Absence!
^ A!Temporary!Chief!of!Staff!will!be!hired.!
^ 9!additional!persons!are!on!a!Leave!of!Absence!working!on!a!campaign.!
^ NoGone!that!is!currently!on!a!Leave!of!Absence!will!return!to!work!in!this!fiscal!
year.!Potential!severences!are!calculated!as!part!of!the!budget.!
^ Derek!Fildebrandt!will!remain!outside!of!caucus!for!the!fiscal!year.!
!!
Assumptions!Common!to!Options!1,2,4!
^ 6!Persons!will!be!laidGoff!(staff!reduction)!for!a!savings!of!$230K.!!N.B.!These!are!in!
addition!to!the!persons!on!Leave!of!Absence.!
!!
Option!1!Discussion!
^ This!option!leaves!us!with!a!forecasted!deficit!of!$387,000.!
^ Advantage!!Maintains!max!staff!capacity!
^ Disavdantage!!!
o It!limits!the!options!available!to!the!new!Leader!
o It!is!inconsistent!with!fiscal!responsibility!
!!
Option!2!!Reduce!staff!Only!
^ Advantage!!It!can!be!immediately!completed.!
o Disadvantage!!A!reduction!of!6!staff!will!only!reduce!the!operating!deficit!to!
$177,000.!!It!will!not!immediately!achieve!a!forecasted!balance!budget.!It!will!be!seen!by!
colleagues!as!a!significant!change!in!staffing!priorities.!
!!
Option!3!!Transfer!Funds!from!MLA!MSA!Accounts!Only!
^ For!analysis!purposes,!a!percentage!transfer!from!all!28!MSA!accounts!was!
estimated!based!on!the!assumption!that!all!MLAs!would!make!the!transfer.!!It!is!unlikely!
that!we!would!have!100%!buyGin!from!MLAs.!!The!point!is!to!raise!approximately!$400K!
from!MLAs!who!are!willing!to!transfer!funds!to!caucus.!!The!Max!amount!an!MLA!would!
be!able!to!transfer!is!$40,000.!!Thus,!if!10!MLAs!transferred!the!maximum!amount,!the!
goal!would!be!achieved.!
^ Advantage!Administratively!simple.!!No!disruption!to!staff.!Achieves!Balance.!
^ Disadvantage!!Very!problematic!with!caucus.!!Likely!significant!criticism.!
!!
Option!4!!
^ Advantage!!Achieves!balance.!Reduced!amount!needed!from!MLAs.!
^ Disadvantage!!Still!very!problematic!with!caucus.!!Likely!significant!criticism.!
!!
Conclusion!&!Recommendation!
!!
The!4!options!presented!are!not!the!only!ones!available.!!They!are!merely!illustrative!of!
the!possible!courses!of!action.!!For!example!we!could!lay!more!than!6!people!off,!or!we!
could!assume!that!all!persons!on!leave!will!return!in!November!requiring!even!more!
significant!action!in!November.!We!could!accept!any!number!as!a!deficit!requiring!the!
new!Leader!to!deal!with!it!in!November.!!
!!
My!recommendation!is!to!use!Option!4!as!the!basis!for!a!course!of!action.!!For!the!sake!
of!discretion,!I!can!share!the!names!of!the!6!persons!to!layGoff!on!the!telephone.!If!we!
decide!to!decrease!or!increase!that!number,!that!will!affect!the!amount!needed!to!be!
transferred!from!MLA!MSA!accounts.!
!!
!!
!!
Kevin Weidlich!
Chief of Staff