December 2 – Budget Committee Gets Rolling with Police, Accountability Offices, Internal Services and More

Posted on 04. Dec, 2011 by Beth in City Budget Watch 2012, SPT News

Budget Committee Gets Rolling 

Who’s on the Budget Committee?  Councillors Del Grande (chair), Berardinetti, Di Giorgio, Ford (vice-chair), Lee, Milczyn, Parker.

Several additional Councillors attended and participated in the Budget Committee meeting.

All members of City Council can ask questions of staff and make statements at Budget Committee.  Budget Committee members can move motions to request briefing notes (reports prepared by staff that provide additional information about individual budgets).  These requests are voted on by members of the Budget Committee.  Councillors who are not on Budget Committee can also request briefing notes.  However these motions must be moved by a Budget Committee member.  Again each of these requests is voted on by the committee.  Councillors who are not on Budget Committee do not have a vote at Budget Committee.  All City Council members review and vote on the final budgets at the Council meeting on January 17-19.

Watch Friday’s Budget Committee meeting here

Police and Parking Tag Enforcement

The Budget Committee met on Friday to begin the review of individual budgets starting with Toronto Police Service, Toronto Police Service Board (TPSB) and Parking Tag Enforcement and Operations.  Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and TPSB Chair Dr. Alok Mukherjee joined senior police staff to present these operating and capital budgets.

Highlights:

• The Toronto Police Service operating budget is up 0.5% (net expenditures, i.e. from the property tax base) for a total increase of $4.2913 million
• Despite cuts to parts of the budget, the police budget has increased as a resulted of the negotiated wage settlement, OMERS pension plan and benefit increases, officer reclassifications and increased costs from facility management and maintenance
• Crime rates are down in all major categories including the murder rate that has fallen consistently in recent years; if the murder rate holds to the end of 2011, it will be the lowest rate for Toronto in decades
• Calls for service are up 2% – not all calls relate to crimes, e.g. finding a missing Alzheimer’s patient
• The budget includes deferred hiring of police officers for the second year in a row
• There are currently 5,585 officers in the Toronto Police Service, by the end of 2011 the complement is expected to be at 5,568 and 5,368 by the end of 2012 if the proposed deferral of officer hiring is maintained; in response to Councillor questions, Dr. Mukherjee said the deferral in hiring is not a sustainable savings strategy for the Toronto Police Service
• The Toronto Police Service accesses provincial and federal grants for policing; a specific officer complement (total number of officers) is required to be eligible for each grant (required number of officers varies by grant); currently the officer complement has fallen to a level where the Toronto Police Service is no longer eligible for 1.3 million in federal funding; it’s estimated that the Toronto Police Service will no longer be eligible for 10-12 million in provincial grants with the projected decline in the officer complement
• Police officers work in three shifts; the evening and midnight shifts overlap by four hours, a provision in the collective agreement since 1983; police management have tried unsuccessfully to get rid of the overlap in shifts during contract negotiations for many years

• Each police service in Ontario negotiates its own contracts with its respective police associations; Councillor Vaughan asked why there isn’t province-wide bargaining that would likely result in less costly agreements; Dr. Mukherjee responded that there is no provincial government support for it based on past discussions; Councillor Vaughan suggested that this attitude may be changing based on recent discussions at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities meeting and should be re-examined
• Councillor Vaughan asked why the Toronto Police Service is both paying people to stay with the service (retention pay based on years of seniority) and to leave the service (voluntary separation program); the Police Chief responded that the retention pay was included in previous collective agreements because they were losing officers to other jurisdictions and is no longer needed; they have been trying unsuccessfully to remove it from the agreement
• Councillor Doucette asked about the contracting out of cleaners in the Toronto Police Service; staff estimated $500,000 in savings from contracting out in 2012; the Justice and Dignity for Cleaners Campaign is challenging this move that would result in the loss of good jobs in exchange for precarious and low wage work
• Councillor Milczyn asked about the trend in civilian positions with the Toronto Police Service; the service will be down a projected 117 civilian positions by the end of 2012; civilian staff and officers received the same percentage of wage increases in the settlement; the Police Chief said they are starting to see the impact of not hiring in the civilian workforce
• Councillor Parker asked about the officer vs. civilian workforce; there are about 2,100 staff in the civilian workforce and work at comparable wages as other City staff; Councillor Parker also asked about work that police officers currently do that could be done by other less expensive staff (where an armed officer is not needed); the Police Chief said they are waiting on a service efficiency study before going further on this issue
• City Manager Joe Pennachetti said the service efficiency study is complete and will be considered at the next TPSB meeting; he also mentioned a shared services study which will include all agencies, boards and commissions to be conducted in 2012
• At present, parking enforcement officers cannot issue tickets for cars where the officer can’t see the license plate; they have to call a police officer to do that; the Toronto Police Service is requesting that the provincial government make a legislative change to allow parking enforcement officers to do this; this would save money and time for both parking enforcement and police  officers
• Councillor Vaughan asked if there was any cost savings from replacing police on the TTC with special constables (a past decision made in recent years); the Police Chief said there was no savings and that 80 police officers now work on the TTC

See the Toronto Police Service and TPSB presentations here
Read the analyst notes for the Toronto Police Service and TPSB: operating and capital budgets
Read the analyst notes for Parking Tag Enforcement and Operations operating budget here

Internal Services

Chief Financial Officer Cam Weldon made a presentation on internal services which include Facilities Management and Real Estate, Sustainable Energy Plan, Union Station, Fleet Services, Information and Technology, Office of the Chief Financial Officer/Financial Services and Office of the Treasurer.

Highlights:

• Internal services made its 10% budget reduction target
• Some new fees have been introduced when there are ownership changes on property tax and utility bills; this will bring in an extra 1.2 million
• The CFO reported that there are no funds to remove trees affected by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB); EAB is an inspect pest that destroys ash trees that’s been detected in Toronto; cost for tree removal is 60 million in total plus another 8 million in tree replacement; there’s only 3 million in the 2012 budget for tree removal; the CFO wants to cut the Sustainable Energy Fund and use some of that money to start to deal with the EAB problem; he also questioned whether the City should continue to offer these loans interest-free
• The CFO said that the energy loan applications have been suspended; Councillor Perks asked if Council had given a policy direction to stop these loan applications (no) and was clearly not pleased that one environmental program was being sacrificed to address another environmental problem
• Councillors said that the internal services budget includes a reduction of 129 positions and requested an in camera session (confidential, no public present) to discuss the job losses – Councillors Perks, Davis, Vaughan and Carroll indicated that they had questions to ask of staff during this in camera session (which did take place)
• The CFO also spoke about the desire to move to multi-year budgeting; this year, the staff will provide a 2-year financial outlook instead of a 1-year; the CFO said he would like Council to begin to set tax and other revenue targets on a multi-year basis and he would like Council to get to the point of introducing a 4-year budget at the beginning of each new term that would receive only minor tweaking on an annual basis (SPT note: this issue should receive a thorough public debate)

Find all of the internal service analyst notes for operating and capital

Other City Programs

These programs include City Manager’s Office, City Clerk’s Office, Legal Services, City Council and Mayor’s Office.  There was no presentation.  The committee went directly to Councillors’ questions.

Highlights:

• Councillor Mihevc asked about the cuts to the access and equity office which is losing one position from 13 to 12.  The eliminated position is currently vacant.
• Councillor Davis asked about cuts to legal staff.  The budget includes cuts to legal staff who work on challenges to the Ontario Municipal Board.  The proposal to cut staff positions is based on a policy change that has not yet been put in place.  The Planning and Growth Committee is considering only pursuing cases at the OMB where the Planning Division agrees with the decision to pursue.  Staff said that if the policy decision isn’t implemented but the budget is cut, legal services will not have the resources to challenge all OMB cases.  The policy decision needs to precede the budget decision but that doesn’t seem to be happening.
• Councillor Davis asked if the cuts to the City Clerk’s Office will affect support to community advisory committees.  Some months ago, there was a move to shut down many of these committees.  The final decision was to refer the issue to the Mayor’s office.  The Mayor’s office is supposed to come back with its recommendations of which committees stay and which go.  At Friday’s meeting, staff said that the ability of the City Clerk’s Office to support those committees would depend on how many remained and that she is watching the area closely as it is at a critical level.
• Councillor Fragedakis asked about the impact of cuts on the City’s ability to support growing civic engagement.  Staff responded that there is indeed a trend in recent years toward greater civic engagement with City Hall, and that they have and will continue to establish many technological methods for supporting that engagement.  In the near future, the City is going to establish listservs for keeping people informed about certain matters at City Hall.  Details forthcoming.

Find all of the other city programs analyst notes for operating and capital

Accountability Offices

The City has four accountability offices that are mandated under the City of Toronto Act: Auditor General’s Office, Office of the Integrity Commissioner, Office of the Lobbyist Registrar and Office of the Ombudsman.  The Integrity Commissioner was not available when this agenda item came up.  The other three officers were present.  When asked if they would like to make formal presentations, they deferred to the committee which decided not to have presentations in the interests of time.  However the Auditor General and Ombudsman did make a few remarks before the three officers took questions from Councillors.

Highlights:

• The Auditor General spoke briefly, reporting a 300% return on investment which is likely a conservative figure.  There is one audit staff for every 425 million in expenditures.
• The Ombudsman spoke briefly.  The Office of the Ombudsman is in its second year. Toronto’s office receives far less funding than any other Ombudsman’s office in various jurisdictions.  The current budget includes a 2.5% reduction which will have a direct service impact, reducing systemic investigations.
• Councillor Doucette asked what it would take to maintain the status quo in the Ombudsman’s Office. The Ombudsman reported that it would take $39,500 to reinstate the 2.5% cut.
• Councillor Carroll asked the Lobbyist Registrar why there was a large discrepancy between 2011 budget and actual.  The actual was much lower than the budget.  The Registrar said they had deferred hiring and are only now staffed up.
• Councillor Parker asked the Ombudsman what investigations she was carrying out and what she would do with the additional funding.  The Ombudsman responded that, under the  City of Toronto Act, she has taken an oath of secrecy and cannot tell anyone about the investigations until they are publicly released.  Councillor Parker followed up asking if there is any “blockbuster stuff coming up”.  The Ombudsman repeated her earlier response regarding secrecy.  Councillor Parker then asked the Auditor General if there are any “big fish” that he can’t pursue because of financial constraints.  The Auditor General said it may be difficult to pursue the TTC audits that are scheduled in the 2012 workplan.
• Councillor Milczyn asked about the Ombudsman’s budget constraints.  The Ombudsman replied that because the City is downsizing and restructuring she anticipates an increase in the number of complaints her office receives and that the cut makes large systemic investigations impossible.  To provide an example, she estimated that one investigation had taken 14 months, involving external expertise and costing probably more than $80,000.   Councillor Milczyn asked if the results of her office produced cost savings or simply improved services.  The Ombudsman replied that fairness is about good governance and uncovering systemic problems and fixing them is about good governance.  She said that there was no question of cost savings.  She went on to say that her office is too young to be able to demonstrate cost savings because these would be borne out over time.
• Councillor Ford asked if Toronto is the only jurisdiction in Canada with four accountability offices.  Staff pointed out that it is a requirement under the City of Toronto Act.
• Councillor Berardinetti asked about services in the inner suburbs and whether it would be beneficial to move the Ombudsman’s Office to better serve those communities.  The Ombudsman responded that funding is needed to properly conduct outreach and because the office is not funded properly the office was not reaching the most marginalized communities which are concentrated in the inner suburbs.  This is especially important as the office is new.  She also commented that she is using her outreach budget for investigations.  Councillor Berardinetti asked whether the Ombudsman would rather stick to investigations than spending any money on communications.  The Ombudsman replied “No I would not rather do that. I would rather see the commitee and City Council fund the office.”  Councillor Berardinetti went on to say she did not understand why the Ombudsman would not be reaching people in the inner suburbs since there  is “low income areas throughout the city that wouldn’t differ.”  The Ombudsman explained that they are reaching more computer literate, well educated people in the downtown and not the vast majority of residents, describing challenges around language, literacy, education, single mothers working double shifts that don’t have time to think about complaining about a service.

Read the analyst notes for the Accountability Offices – operating and capital

Monday, December 5: Budget Committee starts at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Committee Room 1.  It’s going to be packed.  Come early.  Budget Committee reviews the following budgets – Citizen Centred Services ‘A’ (human service divisions) includes  Affordable Housing Office, Children’s Services, Court Services, Economic Development and Culture, Emergency Medical Services, Long Term Care Homes Services, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, Shelter, Support and Housing, Social Development, Finance and Administration, Toronto Employment and Social Services, 311 Toronto, and the following agencies/programs: Community Partnership and Investment Program (grants), Toronto Public  Health, Toronto Public Library, Association of Community Centres, Arena Boards of Management, Yonge-Dundas Square, Heritage Toronto

But there’s more …

Thanks to Community Recreation for All for this list of Priority Centres and the Councillor who represents that ward.  The Parks, Forestry and Recreation budget includes a proposal to eliminate free registered programs for children and youth in these centres.  Instead they would pay new user fees or, if low income, apply to the Welcome Policy  for a subsidy.  The Welcome Policy funding is inadequate to meet the need, running out each season.  The budget includes an increase to its funding, but the demand from eliminating Priority Centres would surely outstrip this increase.  Here’s the list:

• Chalkfarm – Councillor Mammoliti
• Elmbank, North Kipling – Councillor Crisanti
• Falstaff – Councillor Di Giorgio
• Kingsview Village Community School – Councillor Ford
• Driftwood, Oakdale – Councillor Perruzza
• Dennis R. Timbrell – Councillor Parker
• Lawrence Heights – Councillor Colle
• O’Connor – Councillor Minnan-Wong
• Oakridge – Councillor Berardinetti
• Jimmie Simpson – Councillor Fletcher
• John Innes – Councillor Wong-Tam
• Masaryk-Cowan – Councillor Perks
• Regent Park, Regent Park North, Wellesley – Councillor McConnell
• Scadding Court, Harrison Pool – Councillor Vaughan
• Secord – Councillor Davis

City Documents

City of Toronto budget fact sheets and news releases page here
Fact sheet: Layoffs/staff cuts breakdown here
Briefing note: Staff recommended gapping (when staff positions are left vacant) (details and breakdown for programs and agencies) here
Briefing note: Economic factors used in the creation of the City budget here

Community Responses to the Budget

Commitment 2 Community
CUPE Locals 79, 416, 4948
Toronto Arts Council
Toronto Environmental Alliance

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