Questions and Answers

Transcription

1 2016 Budget Questions and Answers Council questions from session held December 7, 2015 and those provided through up to December 10, Office of the CAO There is one contract staff position that will need to become permanent full time in 2016 if it has been the same staff member in this position and the position is continued. Has this been the same staff member, and will their position continue in 2016? The position indicated provides split services between Human Resources and the Fire Department. It has been the same staff member in this position, and the position will be under review in 2016 when the contract ends. With the elimination of the Director of Operations and Purchasing Agent positions, what was the severance paid to the exiting employees? We are not able to disclose severance agreements with the public, however the savings estimated for the 2016 year of $231,000 were inclusive of severance agreements. Financial Services and Infrastructure Management Why are the reserve contributions being reduced? All reserves and reserve funds are established by by-law and many have set minimum and maximum amounts. In 2015 for example, the HR reserve has reached its maximum so no more contributions are being made starting in The only contributions to reserves in this budget are $15,000 for election expenses, and $25,000 for legal expenses. How is the new policing model factored in to the Budget? Does the amount we are charged depend on the number of calls we get in a year? The new billing system by the OPP calculates the annual fee based on a 4 year average of calls. With this new billing system we do know exactly what we are going to be paying for OPP services for Due to lower numbers of calls in 2016, the municipality will have a decrease of approximately $10,000. December 11,

2 How many streetlights are in the urban area compared to the rural areas of the Municipality? Of the total LED streetlight retrofit of 720 lights, 654 are in the urban area and 66 are in the rural area. Have the streetlights switched from being on a user pay system to being part of the regular tax levy? If so, why was this change made? The overall cost for street lighting was never put on the user rates. By way of legislation, the Municipality can t do that as only costs associated with the water and sewer systems can be charged back on the utility accounts. Last year the Municipality allocated staff time from the tax supported to the user rate reported, so we could charge back that individual s wages who performed maintenance on the streetlights. Since we have gone to the new LED lights, they are basically maintenance free and fully warrantied for 10 years. The municipality will benefit through reduced electricity and see savings of approximately $20,000 due to the LED light efficiency. Does Council have access to the annual BMA Municipal study? If so, are they aware than Meaford ranks the highest in many expense categories as a percentage of taxation, assessment, population or other factors? Council is provided an electronic copy of the study. The study provides useful information on comparators and municipal groups of various sizes. BMA does caution using the information however given they stat the following: this analysis is not an apples to apples comparison of services, but rather has been included to provide insight into the net cost of providing municipal services within each municipality. Further analysis would be required to determine the cause of the differences across each spending envelope and within each municipality. How much was contributed to reserves in 2014? The 2014 budget contained $120,000 in reserve contributions. Final year end contributions included an additional $418, over budget due to surplus reallocations which were all carry forward projects in 2015/16 most notably, the Grandview & Susan Drive, Burton & Farrar Street and Bayshore Road projects and the Facility Repurposing study funding. December 11,

3 Various councils last year used the Grey County rebate to keep tax rates down and in fact three municipalities in Grey County: Hanover, Grey Highlands and Chatsworth, reduced their total residential mill rate by 1%,.9% and 0.9% respectively last year. Meaford increased its residential all in rate about 1.32%. Can you explain why Meaford iddn t utilize the County savings to offset taxes like others did? Meaford s 2014 mill rate was and the 2015 mill rate was which is about a 3% reduction. Mill rates are only one component of the tax picture given that overall assessment changes affect the mill rate as well. The County rate went down by 2% last year which every lower tier took advantage of by way of a reduced overall blended rate. Meaford s blended rate was less than a 0.1% increase for There appears to be a capital expenditure differential of approximately $500K between 2015 approved budget figures from February 2015 and that which is illustrated in the 2016 budget as a comparator. Can you explain why there is a difference? This has to do with the allocation of certain capital projects that were reallocated from 2015 to 2016 due to timing, or for projects that did not obtain grants, donations, partnerships, etc. The 2016 file tries to illustrate in year changes to reflect something closer to actuals for the year Of the cancelled or deferred projects, should the budget for 2016 not highlight any deferred ones as the taxpayers have already authorized money for them and no new money is required?? The budget for 2016 does highlight these projects and does include the carryover of exiting funds levied in Each project visibly states that funds were levied in prior years and the budget sheets reflect funding allocated from the reserve funds to which the prior year levy would be paced at year end. Regarding the estimate of an $85,000 surplus, we already know that this will be low. The 2015 budget did not include the County Download of $329,000 in its revenue so that would automatically increase the surplus. As in past years, the operating budget always ends up in a surplus position due to salary gapping, police rebate etc. Last year, staff was back to council two or three times with motions to increase reserves contributions because of the increasing surplus and BDO's final adjustments. The surplus will be much higher than $85K. I believe our new council should be given the most complete information to decide next year's budget. What is the real surplus projection by staff? The County download will not form part of the surplus as Council has directed the money to be allocated to the reconstruction of 2nd Concession North from Sideroad 22 to Sideroad 24 and as such the money will be placed in the Roads & Bridges reserve fund prior to 2015 year end to be withdrawn in December 11,

4 What is the expected actual capital expenditures going to be for 2015? Staff s best estimate at this time for capital expenses was that which was contained in the Third Quarter report showing the following: Although there was a late start to the process, 85% of all expected tenders and RFP s were issued by September 30 with virtually 100% of all larger purchases including equipment, vehicles, gravel, dust suppressants and large capital projects being awarded. More than $3.8 million of all tax supported projects were tendered or quoted by September 30, representing some 92% of the combined $4.21 million in capital projects budgeted. The remaining projects will either be transferred into the 2016 budget or were projects requiring grant funding and the Municipality was not successful in obtaining the funding. More than $900,000 of all user rate supported projects were tendered or quoted by September 30, representing some 72% of the combined $1.3 million in capital projects budgeted. The remaining projects will either be transferred into the 2016 budget or were projects requiring grant funding and the Municipality was not successful in obtaining the funding. What is the "Break Fee" or penalty to get out of the Meaford Hall Mortgage that runs to 2028? We have no ability to renegotiate the term or the rate as this is a debenture and not a loan. A debenture is an unsecured debt backed by the credit worthiness of the borrower. Like a mortgage, it is a long-term debt that is paid back over time according to a fixed payment schedule. Unlike a mortgage, however, debenture payments are fixed for the entire loan period, and are not renegotiated every few years. The debenture through Infrastructure Ontario for Meaford Hall has no ability to break it and pay a penalty. The agreements state that they guarantee the interest rate for the entire term of the loan (20 years) versus a mortgage company that would do a typical 5 year rate over a 20 amortization period. Given this, the Municipality entered into the debenture and will make payments for the entirety of the term. Parks, Recreation and Culture In regard to the indoor pool agreement, is the municipality paying extra for insurance to protect against lawsuits due to injuries? The Municipality will be paying extra insurance for the indoor pool, and this cost is incorporated into the estimated $69,500 net budget for the pool for As is done with the Blue Dolphin pool, the indoor pool will be operated as a certified pool with lifeguards on duty. December 11,

5 Will there be user fees for those using the indoor pool? Yes, there will be fees charged for swimming lessons, aquatics programs, rentals, etc. The total anticipated revenue in 2016 is approximately $25,000 increasing to $50,000 in 2017 and 2018 when operated over the 12 month cycle. Could the Municipality of Meaford build its own indoor pool rather than partnering with a private business? The results of the recreation survey indicated that it was high priority for our residents to get access to an indoor pool. We concluded that while it was not financially feasible to build an indoor pool from scratch, we did identify this opportunity to find a creative solution by partnering with this condo that has an under-used indoor pool to be able to offer this service to our residents. The initial pool partnership is a 3 year pilot project and will be reviewed as it progresses. Was there an attempt to partner with the pool in Owen Sound at the Julie McArthur Recreation Centre? This pool was considered, however YMCA pools require a mandatory membership for use. It is important to the Municipality to be able to offer a-la-carte programming so we can offer flexible, cost-effective services to our residents. Did the Municipality consider partnering with the pool facilities at Stone Tree Golf and Fitness club or in Annan? We are aware of those facilities and we are more than willing to talk to those groups about potential programming. Like the YMCA facilities, Stone Tree is membership-based and may not be as keen to offer a-la-carte programming. We are happy to entertain options to provide pool services to other areas of the municipality, and as this first pilot project progresses, we will gather information on the possibility of expanding the program to other pool locations. December 11,