Part 1: Tourism Finances, AI Governance, and the 2026 Budget Path - 07/24/2025

The County Committee of the Whole met on the afternoon of July 24, 2025, bringing councillors, senior staff, and the public together at Shire Hall to work through a wide-ranging agenda that touched on tourism funding, emerging technology governance, and significant changes to how future municipal budgets will be prepared. The meeting was working in nature, with discussion, questions, and clarification forming the bulk of the afternoon, and several items moving forward for later Council consideration.

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by Councillor Phil Prinzen, who served as Chair. Prinzen opened by welcoming members of Council, staff, media, and the public, and by reminding attendees that any motions passed during Committee of the Whpec-committee-of-the-whole-07242025-recapole are not final until they are considered by Council at its August 26, 2025 meeting. No pecuniary interests were declared, and the agenda was confirmed early in the session.

© PEC Council (YouTube)

View the entire PEC Council meeting, or continue to speaker comments and councillor votes.

The first major item of the afternoon was a deputation from Sarah Fox, Executive Director of Visit the County, who returned to Committee to present a detailed financial and operational update covering the organization’s 2024 fiscal year and outlining priorities for 2025. Fox began by explaining that the presentation mirrored one delivered at Visit the County’s Annual General Meeting in June, where new board members were introduced and audited financial results were reviewed. She walked councillors through the organization’s evolving financial picture, noting that Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) revenues are collected one year and used to fund operations the next, a structure that has made long-term forecasting challenging, especially because MAT collection began during the pandemic when visitor numbers were unusually high.

She explained that Visit the County received approximately $623,800 in MAT revenue in 2024, collected during the prior year, along with additional partnership funding tied to cooperative marketing initiatives and programs like Countylicious. Fox emphasized that staffing had stabilized at three full-time roles, which she described as the minimum required to deliver the organization’s mandate, and that marketing costs in 2024 were higher than previous years largely due to a major rebrand and the launch of a new Visit the County website.

Fox spent significant time detailing marketing expenditures across categories such as advertising, digital campaigns, partnerships, photography, media relations, and wayfinding signage. She acknowledged that earlier financial reporting lacked the level of detail councillors were seeking, and explained that Visit the County has since migrated to new accounting software and hired a bookkeeper to improve transparency and tracking.

Looking ahead, Fox outlined how 2024 MAT revenues of approximately $522,000 would fund the 2025 operating budget, and described priorities for the coming year, including expanded Arts Trail and Taste Trail development, a review and redesign of Countylicious, stronger resident engagement through surveys and town halls, and improved visitor data collection. She cautioned councillors about over-interpreting visitor numbers, explaining that some data sources do not support reliable year-over-year comparisons due to changing methodologies.

Following the presentation, councillors asked detailed questions about reserve funds, marketing focus, data reliability, and how Visit the County works with municipal staff on short-term accommodation compliance. Fox clarified that reserve contributions are intended to build long-term stability in the face of volatile tourism revenues, and described ongoing coordination with finance and bylaw staff to ensure accurate MAT reporting. The deputation was received by Committee after councillors voted to extend Fox’s speaking time to allow her to complete the presentation.

Artificial Intelligence Use Proposal

The meeting then shifted to a policy-focused discussion with the introduction of a Proposed Artificial Intelligence Use and Governance Policy, presented by David Boyle, Senior Manager of Infrastructure Technology and Transformation. Boyle explained that the report was intended to put formal guardrails in place before County staff adopt AI-enabled tools, emphasizing ethical use, accountability, security, and transparency.

Boyle described the policy as a framework rather than a green light for widespread deployment, noting that staff interest in AI has grown alongside the availability of tools that could improve efficiency and service delivery. He stressed that the proposed governance model includes an internal committee to evaluate AI applications, monitor risks, and ensure alignment with County values.

The discussion that followed reflected a broad range of perspectives. Councillors raised concerns about job displacement, loss of human skills, data security, algorithmic bias, and environmental impacts, while also acknowledging potential benefits in areas such as processing speed, consistency, and analytical capacity. Several speakers emphasized the importance of keeping services human-centered and maintaining direct public access to staff.

Through discussion, Committee agreed to amend the governance structure to include two members of the public in advisory roles on the AI Governance Committee, a change supported as a way to broaden perspectives while maintaining internal oversight. With that amendment, the AI policy and governance framework were endorsed for Council consideration.

2026 Budget Update

The final major item in open session was a 2026 Budget Process Update, presented by Arryn McNichol, Director of Finance and Information Technology. McNichol explained that the proposed changes respond to both councillor direction and staff experience, and are aimed at modernizing how the County prepares, presents, and communicates its budget. McNichol outlined a shift toward Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) best practices, describing a future budget document that places greater emphasis on narrative context, departmental goals, performance metrics, and links to strategic and asset management plans, rather than dense tables alone. He explained that implementation would be phased over several years to match staff capacity.

The revised timeline would shorten the overall budget cycle, introduce earlier staff training and clearer templates, and rely on a mix of evening meetings and working sessions rather than multiple late-night Council meetings. McNichol noted that procurement timing and capital planning had been considered in the revised approach, and that public consultation would continue throughout the process, including surveys and in-person engagement.

Councillors welcomed the direction of change, with several emphasizing the importance of clearer storytelling, better public understanding, and improved alignment between operating budgets, capital planning, and asset management decisions. Questions focused on how feedback would be incorporated, how capital and operating budgets interact, and how councillors could provide meaningful input during a compressed timeline.

Before the item concluded, Mayor Steve Ferguson formally issued a mayoral direction under the Municipal Act, instructing staff to prepare and present the proposed 2026 County budget for Council consideration under the revised framework.

Following the budget discussion, Committee moved into closed session to address a land matter in the Picton Industrial Park and a personal appointment issue. Upon returning to open session, a single appointment motion was brought forward and carried. The meeting adjourned at 3:18 p.m.

Key Takeaways

1. Visit the County is working toward greater financial stability and transparency as tourism revenues normalize after pandemic fluctuations.

   
   

2. The County is formally putting rules in place for how artificial intelligence can be used responsibly, with public input built into oversight.

   
   

3. The 2026 budget will look and feel different, with a stronger focus on clarity, long term planning, and explaining how spending decisions connect to services and assets residents rely on.

---

Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 2:19:49. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.